Song of a Cherry Blossom
by Diana-san
Summary: [SasuSaku] Sakura takes a job as a local club singer under the alias name Saki. But things begin to get complicated when the guy you hate starts to fall in love with your other self. Especially if that guy is Uchiha Sasuke.
1. Miss Saki

**Song of a Cherry Blossom  
**by Diana-san

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

**Summary:**Sakura takes a job as a local club singer under the alias name Saki. But things begin to get complicated when the guy you hate starts to fall in love with your other self. Especially if that guy is Uchiha Sasuke.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Haruno Sakura hummed as she combed through her tangled pink hair with her slender fingers. She stared at her reflection in the mirror as she placed her hands down on her lap. Tsunade, who was Sakura's make-up artist among several other identities, had just finished applying all the necessary make-up on the cherry blossom's face. Sakura brought one finger up to her lips and examined the rosy color of the lip gloss on her lips. The description on the tube of lip gloss had read that it would any pair of lips look soft and luscious.

Sakura sighed. Somehow it did not apply to her lips. _I wish they didn't have to force me to wear make-up. I look like some cheap imitation of a plastic Barbie._

A knock came at the door and Sakura turned her head abruptly. The door opened and a head stuck in. A devilish smile played at the man's lips but disappointment appeared when he saw that the person he was hoping to be in there wasn't in the room.

Sakura tried to stifle a giggle when she saw the white-haired man's smile turn into a frown of disappointment. "Sorry, Jiraiya-sama. Tsunade-sama left awhile ago."

The white-haired man laughed nervously when he saw that his intentions were found out. "Tsunade? I wasn't looking for her," he proclaimed.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Then what are you doing here?"

"Well, you're going to be on stage in a few minutes so you better get ready," Jiraiya explained.

"Alright," Sakura responded monotonously. Jiraiya took another glance around the room before disappearing behind the door.

Sakura picked up the honey blonde wig lying on top of the vanity table in front of her. She placed it carefully on her head and made sure that any signs of pink hair were hidden behind the blonde curls. The blonde wig came down to below the chest whereas her pink hair went only to just past her shoulders. She stared at her reflection again and was shocked to see how much her look has changed from switching her hair color.

She laughed quietly. "This still surprises me even though I have been doing this for three weeks."

Sakura thought back to when she first came to this place. It was a popular night club where many high school and college students come to get away from the stress of school. When she first walked by, the Help Wanted sign had caught her eye. Ever since the death of her parents a few months ago, Sakura had been on her own. She had to sell the house in which she once lived with her parents in order to move into a smaller but affordable apartment. However, she had to transfer out of her school since it was too far away to commute to every morning. After applying to several schools, she got accepted into Konoha Academy on a music scholarship so she didn't have to worry about the expensive tuition fees to the private school. Sakura still needed to find a job to help pay for cost of rent and food. She had a part-time job as a waitress but the pay wasn't enough. That was when she walked by the night club named Icha Icha. She immediately found work as a part-time singer at the club and the pay was enough to pay for her rent and food.

Sakura sat back in her comfortable chair. Everyone who worked at the club had been really nice to her and they felt like her family. Even though Jiraiya was always gazing love-struck at the college woman, there was always Tsunade who kept Jiraiya in check. Then there was Morino Idate, a year older than Sakura, and a bartender at the club. He was always kind to Sakura and they always had nice chats after she was done performing.

A knock came at the door again and Sakura whirled around to see who it was. A head poked in and a young woman's head appeared. Mitarashi Anko motioned to her that it was time and Sakura nodded. The dark violet head went back behind the door and the door shut itself.

Sakura picked up the sunglasses on top of the table and placed it on. Then she walked out of the small dressing room and walked a short way until she was at the very edge of the stage. The curtains that were drawn back shielded her from the views of the audience.

Music was playing loudly and she could see many high school and college students dancing the night away. She smiled. _Of course. It is a Friday after all._

She sighed. She wasn't nervous to be on stage but she was getting jitters since she was starting at a new school next week. She peeked out of the curtains again to look at the students who were probably juniors or seniors in high school. _I wonder if any of them are going to be my new classmates. _

The music started to die down and some of the weary dancers went to sit down. Jiraiya walked out from the other side of the stage and walked up to the microphone which was placed in the center. Jiraiya started to speak a few words before starting to introduce Sakura.

After a moment, Jiraiya extended his arm out and gestured towards the left side of the stage where Sakura stood behind the curtains. "And now, the moment you have all been waiting for. The lovely voice talents of Miss Saki accompanied by her band."

Applause sounded from the audience as Sakura smiled. Saki was the stage name that Jiraiya devised for her since Sakura didn't want to use her real name. The pink-headed girl who was now a blonde stepped out into the spotlight. The applause grew as she walked up to the microphone. Even though she wasn't a famous singer or anything, she was the most popular act at the club and most people came to hear her sing. She looked at the band and they began to play the music.

Sakura had only known the band for a short period of time, but she was able to learn the lyrics of the songs that they played. The band consisted of three members. Dosu Kinuta on bass, Kin Tsuchi on guitar, and Zaku Abumi on drums.

The song began and the opening music of the song was being played. Sakura folded her hands and stared out at the audience. It was her dream to become a singer and travel around the world as a musician. Now her dream was being partly fulfilled.

She held onto the microphone and began to sing. She proceeded to take the microphone out from its holder and stepped back as the music started to get faster. The crowd began to get livelier and was dancing to the beat of the song while waving their hands in the air. Sakura smiled as she sang. She had found her new home.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke leaned back against the comfortable couch. He was at the local nightclub, Icha Icha, since his girlfriend for this week had dragged him here saying about how the singer here was really talented. He was impressed however when he heard the blonde girl singing. Her voice was smooth and enchanting as it drew the crowd in. Her eyes which sparkled underneath the light brown shades of the sunglasses showed her enthusiasm and he could see that the girl was very passionate about her singing.

Sasuke observed the young woman's dress. It was a simple floral print dress and it was worn over a pair of faded jeans. The spaghetti straps of the dress showed the slender woman's smooth and creamy white skin. She was quite beautiful but he couldn't see her face clearly since it was hidden behind a pair of sunglasses.

Sasuke's attention was broken when his girlfriend, Yamanaka Ino, started to cling onto his arm. "Isn't this club the best?" Ino squealed. Sasuke rolled his eyes at Ino's dramatic behavior. She was just like the rest of the girls he dated. Clingy and manipulative. He sighed. Every girl at his high school had a crush on him when he attended school there. Now that he was entering his junior year of high school next week, he expected to find hoards of freshmen girls after him. He smiled smugly when he thought about that.

__

Of course they'll be after me. I'm young, handsome, muscular and rich.

Sasuke sighed happily. He had a wonderful life growing up. After all, he is the son of a multi-billionaire father and was the only heir to the business since his elder brother had decided to give it all up to marry a girl in some faraway place.

Ino tugged on the sleeve of Sasuke's navy blue shirt and brought Sasuke back to attention. Their drinks had arrived and the waiter placed down a tray with four drinks stacked on the tray. He placed each drink in front of each person. Sasuke glanced over at the other two who Ino had invited. One was Hyuuga Neji who also had a rich family. He was the only heir to the fortunes of the Hyuuga family and even though Sasuke was friends with Neji, they were also rivals since they competed against each other in everything. Seated next to him was his girlfriend, Tenten, who had chocolate-colored hair held up in two buns on top of her head. The attractive girl snuggled close against Neji and sipped at her drink.

Sasuke looked down at his own girlfriend who had her head against his arm. Ino's long blonde hair was held up in a single ponytail and a loose strand of hair hung over one eye. She was slowly sipping her drink and Sasuke reached over to get his drink off the table. He brushed back his dark locks which covered over his eyes.

The song that the girl on stage was singing had begun to end and as the music died down, the crowd standing in the front began to applaud and shouted for an encore. The white-headed man who owned the nightclub came out onto the stage and whispered something into the singer's ear. Sasuke watched in amusement to see what the girl would do next. He saw her give a nod and then proceeded to give the band a sign indicating which song she was going to sing. The band responded by beginning to play. The blonde girl began to sing and once again, her beautiful voice rang out. The crowd cheered and dancing began.

"That girl sure is good, isn't she?" Tenten remarked. Neji nodded in agreement and Sasuke and Ino did as well.

"I bet she's going to make it big one day. She's so extremely talented and sooner or later, she is going to get discovered," Ino exclaimed.

Neji nodded. "I admit, this girl could make it in the music industry. She has the looks and talent."

Tenten nodded. "And she seems really nice and sincere too."

Ino sighed blissfully and snuggled up against Sasuke. "I wish I can be like her. To have such amazing talents and looks. Won't it be just fun to be a star?"

Sasuke laughed. "So you want to be a star?"

Ino looked up at Sasuke with puppy dog eyes. "Wouldn't you? I mean, it's every girl's dream to become a famous star."

Tenten retorted, "Not every girl. I don't want to be a famous star. It's too much stress."

Ino stuck her tongue out at Tenten playfully. "Of course you wouldn't. You rather much be doing stuff like running around and getting sweaty." Ino wrinkled her nose in disgust at the thought of getting sweaty.

Tenten stuck her tongue back out at Ino. "What's wrong with getting sweaty?"

Neji chuckled. "Of course, Tenten's the kind of girl who doesn't mind getting dirty."

Tenten laughed and leaned against Neji's arm. Ino sighed in despair. "Sometimes I don't understand you people."

Tenten shrugged and sank against the couch. They remained silent for quite some time as they listened to the soulful voice of the girl on stage. Sasuke stared intently at the singer's face and tried to picture what she really looked like without the sunglasses. When he couldn't, he sighed and sank against the leathery couch. The song ended and the crowd applauded and shouted for more but the girl declined and took a bow before walking offstage. The honey blonde head disappeared behind the curtains and some music was heard playing over the sound system.

Ino muttered something about trying to get an autograph but Sasuke was too deep in thought to hear anymore. _I wonder if I can see her again._

Sasuke gazed up at the ceiling. "Say, Ino. What was the girl's name?" he asked.

The blonde looked up at Sasuke with her blue eyes. "You mean the singer?"

The raven-headed man nodded. "I think the old guy said it was Saki," Ino responded.

"Saki," Sasuke whispered as he let the two-syllable name roll off his tongue.

Ino looked up at him. "Did you say something Sasuke-kun?" she purred.

The raven-haired man shook his head and went to pick up his drink. He placed the edge of the tall glass at his lips and stared at the now empty stage.

__

The stage was a desolated place until you came and lit it up with your smile and charisma.

Sasuke smiled as he took a swig of his drink. _Miss Saki. I hope we can meet again one day._

* * *

A/N:Thanks for reading. Now, move your mouse over to that little button that saids 'Go.' and click it. Go on, click it! xD


	2. First Day of Hell

**Song of a Cherry Blossom  
**by Diana-san

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

The glowing red lights of the digital clock switched from 5:59am to 6:00am and the familiar loud shrill ring awakened the sleeping girl. Sakura opened one eye and glared at the clock for waking her up so early. It had awakened her from her dream where she was just accepting the Grammy for Best New Artist. Sakura groaned as the alarm clock kept ringing. She slammed her hand hard on the Snooze button and rolled over to find a comfortable spot on her pillow.

"It's not like I have school or anything," she murmured as she tried to doze off into slumber land.

Eventually, she fell back asleep as she tried to get back to her dream. Instead of dreams about Grammys and Billboard Music Awards, she found a look-alike version of herself. The only difference was that the look-alike had large words written across her forehead. Sakura trembled under the covers a little when the figure in her dream started to get bigger and towered over the dream version of Sakura.

Inside the dream, the girl with 'Inner Sakura' stamped on her forehead loomed over the dream version of Sakura.

"Sakura!" Inner Sakura shouted. The dream version of Sakura looked up at Inner Sakura with horrified eyes. "W-what?" she stammered.

"Get your butt off the bed and get to school! SHANNARO!" Inner Sakura yelled.

"School?" Sakura softly murmured as her head sank deeper into the soft pillow.

Suddenly, the pink-haired girl bolted upright as she grabbed the alarm clock off the bedside table and stared at the glowing digital numbers. It now read 6:32am. Sakura stared horrified at the glowing digits.

"OH MY GOD! I'm going to be late for my first day of school!" she yelled out as she jumped off the bed. The blankets caught onto Sakura's foot as she tried to get off the bed and out the bedroom. Finally, when she finally managed to free herself from the blankets, she clumsily ran to the door of her bedroom and walked out. She went to the bathroom and quickly brushed her teeth and splashed some water onto her sleepy face. Sakura ran out and went back to her bedroom where she quickly changed into her school uniform which consisted of a white short-sleeved blouse with a pale yellow sweater vest over it. She slipped into her green plaid skirt before sitting down to put on her socks. The white ankle socks drooped down around her ankles as they refused to stay up. Sakura let out a frustrated grunt before leaving her socks as is. She grabbed her schoolbag off her desk chair and rushed out of the small bedroom. In the kitchen, she grabbed a piece of bread and held it in her mouth as she grabbed her keys off the countertop. She quickly stepped into her black shoes before opening the apartment door and shutting the door behind her as she rushed down the hallway and down to the first floor.

Sakura continued running with the bread in her mouth as she tried to comb through her cherry colored hair with her fingers. She hastily tied up her hair in a ponytail. She glanced at the digital watch she had hastily slapped on her wrist and saw that it read 6:51am.

__

Crap. Only nine minutes before the bell rings. I can't be late for my first day of school! Especially not this school...

Sakura bit into the piece of bread and finally finished it off when she neared the school. The large academy loomed up ahead and Sakura ran as fast as she could towards the majestic yet daunting academy building. She ran past the gate and up the main steps. Her watch read 7:03am as she ran down the hallways searching for the room listed on her schedule.

__

Class 2-A, class 2-A. Where the hell is class 2-A?

Sakura finally found class 2-A and opened the door to find people all over the place. Many of the students were talking and fooling around. Sakura quietly stepped into the zoo-like room. No one took notice of her and Sakura was glad for that as she found a nice seat by the window which was four seats down from the front row. She sat down and placed her schoolbag on the desk. She rummaged around her bag until she found the case that held her glasses. Even though Sakura didn't need glasses to see, it was helpful to hide her unusual green eyes. She fingered her hair. The distinct color of cherry blossoms showed in her hair and Sakura sighed. Even though she couldn't hide her bright pink hair, she could at least attempt to shield the abnormality of her green eyes.

Sakura glanced at her watch again and then at the clock above the door. They both read 7:15am. Sakura frowned. _The teacher is late. I guess that's good. Otherwise, I might have been scolded at._

Sakura took the glasses out of the case and placed them on. She closed the case shut and stuffed it back in her bag as she set the bag down on the floor. Sakura smiled as she thought back of the conversation she had with Idate on Saturday night after her performance.

_

* * *

Idate set the drink down in front of Sakura and she looked up at him in surprise. "My treat," he said with a smile in response to her shocked face. Sakura smiled and sipped at the drink through the straw. Idate turned around and began making more drinks for the customers waiting._

"So," Idate said as he poured a clear liquid into a glass. "I heard you're starting a new school this Monday."

Sakura replied with a yes as she continued to sip at her drink. "Aren't you starting your senior year at Konoha High next week too?"

Idate nodded as he turned and handed a drink to the lady sitting next to Sakura. "Yes I am. Where are you attending?"

"Konoha Academy."

Idate looked at Sakura with surprise in his eyes. "Oh, but isn't that an expensive school? All the rich kids go there."

Sakura nodded as she twirled her straw. "Yes, but I got in with a music scholarship and I have a full ride there."

"That's impressive."

Sakura laughed. "Not really. But seeing as all the people going there are from rich families, I'm going to stand out since I don't have their expensive clothing and designer bags." Sakura tugged on her hair. "Not to mention, my unusual hair color and my green eyes."

Idate laughed. "Well, I think you have very beautiful eyes."

Sakura blushed when Idate said that. "Thanks, but I still wouldn't want to be at the center of everyone's topic. I rather hide my eyes and hair color."

Sakura brought out a pair of glasses. "And with these, I can hide my eye color! They almost make my eyes seem like a brownish color when I wear them and when I'm out in the sun, the photosensitive lenses will become darker in the presence of ultraviolet light!"

Idate laughed. "You sound like some late night infomercial. But even with those glasses, what are you going to do with your hair?"

Sakura sighed. "Nothing. There's nothing I can do. If I use a wig, then it'll be inconvenient when we have gym since I will most likely sweat from wearing a hot wig. And it's not like I can take my wig on or off."

"How about dying it?" Idate suggested.

Sakura looked at him with a horrified expression. "Even though I don't like how my hair stands out, I have grown to love it. After all, it makes up of who I am." Sakura looked down at her lap before saying, "And it reminds me of my mother."

Idate remained silent. After awhile, he broke the stillness by saying, "Well, I have no problem with you going to school with pink hair and sunglasses." Idate tousled Sakura's pink hair with a grin. Sakura brought her hands up in protest. "It's not sunglasses! It's glasses with photosensitive lenses that will--"

Idate laughed and turned around indicating he was ending the conversation at that.

Sakura stuck a tongue out at the back of Idate. "I saw that," Idate said as he started to refill another drink.

* * *

Sakura's thoughts were interrupted when the door opened a silver-haired man walked in. The class started to quiet down and everyone ran to their seats. Sakura stared up at the clock. It read 7:29am. Sakura looked at the teacher in shock. _How could he just walk in like he wasn't half an hour late. _It was true that the teacher made no expression that he had ever been late. The silver-haired man set his briefcase down on top of the wide desk and proceeded to write something on the chalkboard behind him.

Hatake Kakashi.

That was what was written on the board. Sakura stared at the name and looked up at the teacher. He smiled at the class and started to introduce himself. "Good morning class. My name is Hatake Kakashi but you can all call me Kakashi-sensei. I will be your homeroom teacher for the rest of the school year since your previous teacher has moved so I hope we'll get to know each other well."

* * *

Sasuke smirked. He couldn't believe that _the_ Hatake Kakashi was going to be his homeroom teacher this year. Even though Kakashi was one of the very best teachers at the school, he was better known for his constant tardiness to places. Sasuke yawned as Kakashi continued on with introductions. He leaned back in his chair which was specifically reserved for him. It was in the very back row which was five seats down from the front row and it was right by the window so he could stare at the girls who had gym that period. He glanced out the window. So far, no girls were in sight.

He averted his gaze to the front of him and was surprised to see pink hair. He had been sleeping the whole time until the teacher walked in and didn't notice the girl who sat down in front of him. He stared at the unusual pink color of the hair. _I never saw someone with pink hair. _

Sasuke sat up straight in his chair and heard Kakashi taking attendance. Sasuke zoned him out since he wasn't going to come up in the list for awhile. After all, his name was down in the U's. Sasuke softly touched the pink hair in front of him so that the girl wouldn't notice. When the girl didn't make any indication of noticing anything, he continued to examine the color. He lifted up one strand of hair and peered at it closely.

* * *

"Haruno Sakura," Kakashi called out as he looked up from the attendance sheet.

Sakura raised her hand slowly and felt her back making contact with someone's hand. She turned around and was surprised to see a guy playing with her hair. The guy smirked when he found out he was caught. Sakura blushed and then turned back around.

"Hyuuga Hinata." A timid girl from the second seat in the row near the windows raised her hand. She blushed slightly as people turned to glance at her.

"Nara Shikamaru," Kakashi called out. A guy in the third seat of the second row who had his head down on the desk like he was fast asleep, raised his hand up after a short while.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Kakashi called out as he continued to read from the list. He looked up and glanced around the room. "Uchiha Sasuke," he called out again as he searched for a hand.

Sakura looked around the room to see if anyone with that name would raise their hand. She was surprised when a hand behind her started to go up. A few girls in the class started to squeal but a blonde girl sitting a few seats up glared at them all and the squealing girls finally stopped their squealing. Sakura looked at Sasuke from the corner of her eye as she turned slightly in her seat to get a view of him. _He's handsome, that's for sure. No wonder those girls are eyeing him like that. But he's kind of strange too_, Sakura recalled when she thought back to when the raven-head was playing with her hair.

Sakura turned back in her seat when she heard Kakashi starting to sigh. "Uchiha Sasuke, is it? From what I heard, you're going to be a handful."

The raven-haired man sitting behind Sakura smirked and continued to lean back against his chair. The girls in the class started to swoon again. Sakura laughed quietly inside at the girls' reactions towards Sasuke.

__

And to think, I have to sit in front of this display attraction. He's probably just looks and doesn't have much of a brain.

Kakashi continued on with attendance so Sakura's thoughts were interrupted as she surveyed the room to see who's who.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Kakashi called out. The blond who was sitting in front of Sakura jumped up and raised his hand wildly. "Here! I'm here, Kakashi-sensei!"

A few of the girls giggled at Naruto's excited outburst and some of the guys smirked. Sakura could hear Sasuke yawned and then told Naruto, "Sit down you dobe. Stop acting all excited for nothing."

The blond turned his head and pointed at the raven head. "Shut up you teme! Don't tell me what to do," Naruto shouted at the Uchiha before finally sitting down.

Kakashi sighed. _This sure is one heck of a class, _Kakashi thought. Kakashi looked at the last name on his list.

"Yamanaka Ino," he called out. A blonde sitting in the second seat of the third row raised her hand. Sakura narrowed her eyes. _Yamanaka Ino? Why does that name sound so familiar? _

Kakashi closed the attendance book and proceeded to pick up a piece of chalk and began writing the day's lesson. Sakura had to forget about the blonde girl as she opened up a brand new notebook and began copying down the notes on the blackboard.

* * *

The bell rang and Sakura looked up from her notebook. The clock showed that it was exactly noon which meant it was time for lunch. Kakashi placed the chalk down and dismissed the class. Sakura closed her notebook and stuffed it in her bag. Students began to stand up and started to chat with each other.

Sakura glanced at the silver-haired teacher. She noticed that he was seated on his chair and reading some kind of book. Sakura grimaced when she saw that he was reading some kind of adult novel. The cover flashed the title, _Icha Icha Paradise_. Sakura groaned

_I can't believe my very own teacher is reading Jiraiya-sama's trashy novels. And to think, Jiraiya-sama named the club after those books. It's embarrassing now to know I work there._

Sakura sighed, embarrassed for the white-haired man who gave her money for rent and food. _I don't know how Tsunade-sama keeps up with him. In fact, I don't know how I keep up with him. _

Sakura grimaced when she remembered how Jiraiya told her one day to try to flirt with the guys who came to the club. Sakura could remembered it so clearly as if it was yesterday. That one comment from Jiraiya resulted in Tsunade hitting him on the head and yelling at him for trying to exploit the girl. The day ended with one very distraught pink-headed girl, an angry blonde woman, and a badly bashed-up perverted old man with a large bump on his head.

Sakura giggled when she pictured Jiraiya with his bruise on his head. She knew that Jiraiya meant well and that he wouldn't place her in any harm. Even though he was a bit dense when it comes to females and wouldn't understand how Sakura feels about interaction with boys except for Idate and the guys in the band, Jiraiya still treated Sakura like his own daughter and wouldn't want her to be harmed in any way.

Sakura gathered her things and walked out of the classroom and to the courtyard where students were already coming out to eat. She found a nice place by some trees and sat down in the shade. She rummaged through her schoolbag and found her lunch sack.With a peek inside the lunch sack, she could see that her plain ham and cheese sandwich was still intact. She removed the cellophane that surrounded her sandwich and took a small bite. After sitting so long in her bag, the sandwich had a weird taste but Sakura was starving today after eating only a piece of bread this morning.

She took another bite of the sandwich and took out a notebook from her schoolbag. She flipped a few pages and found the page she was looking for. It was her music notebook where she wrote down her song lyrics and thoughts. It was also where she writes down ideas for any new songs. It was a bit like a day planner to her also since she takes it out everyday to write in. On the top of the page, in the far right corner, had 'first day of new school' written down.

Sakura leaned against the trunk of the tree and stared at the campus. She gazed around at the students eating lunch and wasn't surprised to see tha many of the girls were wearing expensive jewelry and watches. _So much for uniforms of equality._ She saw that most of the cars in the parking lot were expensive looking cars and Sakura leaned back against the tree trunk with a sigh. _Everyone here is like a money machine. None of them probably ever had to work in their entire life. _

The bell rang and Sakura gathered her belongings and stood up. She dumped all her trash into the nearest garbage can before realizing that her notebook dropped inside the garbage can along with the rest of the trash.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed. She quickly tried to catch it but the notebook fell inside. She groaned as she stuck her hand unwillingly inside the garbage can as she tried to retrieve her notebook.

A few girls who were walking by stopped and snickered. "I guess even paupers have to look for food somewhere," one of them said as she pointed at Sakura. "To think they have to stoop to so low and go through garbage cans to get something to eat." They all began to laugh as they strolled off.

Sakura glared at the backs of them. _Just because I don't have diamonds and pearls like you guys, doesn't mean I can't afford food. _

She yanked the notebook out from the garbage can and stomped off angrily to her next class before the late bell rang. She walked hastily to the gymnasium. She walked into the large gymnasium and was impressed by the newly built-in basketball hoops and the shiny waxed gym floor. She only been to the school's gymnasium once before and that was when they had orientation the week before school started for all the new incoming students. She walked to the door that lead inside to the girl's locker room and hurriedly change into the school's gym uniform.

Sakura walked back out to the gymnasium where her class was waiting for Kakashi. Finally, the silver-haired man appeared and class began. Kakashi began to pass out basketballs to some of the guys and girls. "Go ahead and play basketball. I will watch you guys while I read," Kakashi stated. Sakura sighed. _So he isn't even going to do anything but just read his book? _

Sakura's thoughts were interrupted as a ball came hurtling at her. Sakura caught the orange basketball on the first bounce and stared at it as if it was a strange object. She glanced around the gym. Most of the guys had begun to play while most of the girls were standing to the corner and chatting with their friends. Sakura sighed. _What am I suppose to do?_

Sakura held the orange ball in her hands and gazed over to a game being started between some of the guys. A loud cheer erupted and Sakura walked a little closer to see what the fuss was about.

* * *

Sasuke clenched his teeth as he dribbled the basketball. One of the guys on the opposite team tried to steal the ball away from him but Sasuke quickly passed it to the blond on his team. Naruto caught the ball and he and Sasuke started to pass the ball back and forth between each other. As Sasuke caught the ball, another guy from the opposite team tried to block Sasuke from shooting.

Sasuke smirked. The raven head faked a pass to the right and then dribbled past the opponent. Standing outside of the three point line, he took a shot and the ball sailed through the air. It swished through the net and created an uproar among the girls who were watching the game from the sidelines. They began to cheer and squeal for the dark raven headed man. Sasuke smirked and flashed the girls a smile. That resulted in more squeals from the girls.

Sakura, who was watching the whole game watched in awe as the guys played. She noticed how perfectly the raven-headed Uchiha executed his winning shot and how he didn't even break a sweat. _He's talented...for a display attraction. _

Being lost in thought, Sakura didn't notice a ball headed towards her.

"Watch out!" a voice yelled out. Sakura whirled her head around to the direction of the scream. "Huh?" she said in confusion. Before she knew it, the ball came in contact with her face. All Sakura could see after that was black. Total and complete darkness as she fell down unconscious on the waxed gym floor. She could hear screams and cries but soon all she heard was stillness as everything turned black.

* * *

A/N: The purple button with the word 'Go' and the mouse are meant for each other. Let them be together as you reunite mouse with button with a single click! Review please!


	3. Waitress Sakura

**Song of a Cherry Blossom  
**by Diana-san

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. **

* * *

**

**Chapter 3**

Sakura slowly opened her eyes and a white ceiling came into view. _Huh? Where am I? _Sakura tried to rack her brain for an answer but came up with a blank. Sakura pulled on her pink hair as she tried to remember what happened to her. _Let's see. I woke up late. Came to school. Found out my teacher was perverted. Had lunch. Went to gym. Went to gym and? And got…_

Sakura scratched her head. She couldn't remember what happened after she went to gym. _Kakashi-sensei was reading his perverted book. And so he made us…play basketball! And then… what happened while we played basketball?_

Sakura rolled over on her side and then took notice that she was on a bed. She placed her hand on the mattress and felt the comfy bed beneath her. She looked up from the bed and all she saw was a really long curtain that covered her view of the rest of the small room. Sakura let her right arm fall down freely against the side of the bed and was surprised when her arm hit against something. She felt the strange object and her hand held onto something soft and round. Unsure of what to do, she squeezed the round object. Hard.

Next thing she knew, a loud scream filled the room. Sakura winced as the loud noise entered her ears. A blond jumped up and grabbed his nose in pain. He jumped up and down as he ran around in circles and still clutching his nose.

Sakura stared at the blond.

Finally, after the blond had settled down, he stood over the pink-haired girl. "Sorry about that," Sakura apologized. _Even though that was hilarious._

"It's alright. It's not as bad as getting hit in the face with a basketball."

_Hit in the face? With a basketball? Is that what happened? _Sakura wondered.

The blond grinned. "You're Haruno Sakura, right?"

Sakura nodded. The blond gave an even bigger grin. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"

"I know you. You're in my class. You sit in front of me, right?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah."

Sakura glanced around her bed. "Uh, where am I?"

"The nurse's office," Naruto replied.

"Nurse's office?" Sakura echoed.

"Yeah. You got hit in the face pretty hard and then got knocked out unconscious. I tried to warn you but I guess it was too late. Of course, the idiot who did that to you, Sasuke, had to be so stupid and passed the ball to someone who wasn't paying attention so the ball went and hit your pretty face instead…"

_Pretty? He thinks I'm pretty? _Sakura thought as she blushed slightly.

Naruto continued on with his talking while oblivious to the faint color of pink on Sakura's face. "…and then you fell down on the floor so we weren't sure of what to do. But I came to the rescue and picked you up and ran all the way to the nurse's office. So here we are now," Naruto finished. The blond bent down and peered at Sakura. "How's your head?"

"Uh, fine I guess. Other than a concussion given to me from a basketball, I feel great," Sakura said sarcastically.

Naruto laughed. "You sound just like him," he remarked.

"Who?"

"Sasuke," he said with a smile.

Sakura frowned. "Please. Don't compare me to that guy."

"What? You hate him or something?"

"No, I barely know him but the fact that he almost gave me brain injury with a basketball and still didn't show up to apologize, then yes, I probably hate him."

Naruto smiled. "Oh, I see." He glanced at his watch. "Since you're awake, then I should get your things."

Sakura glanced down at her clothes. She noticed that she was still in her gym uniform. She looked down distastefully at the white T-shirt and green shorts. "Thanks, but I think I can manage," Sakura said as she started to get off the bed. Before she could, Naruto pushed her back down. "I said I'll go get it. After all, like you said, you almost got a brain injury from that basketball so you might as well rest here for a bit," Naruto told her.

Sakura sighed. It was hard for her to argue with this boy. "Fine," she agreed as she placed her legs back underneath the white sheets. Naruto grinned. "Okay then. I'll be right back," he said as he left through the curtains and out the door.

Sakura sat back against the headboard of the bed and suddenly realized something. _If I got hit in the face, then that means…_

Sakura brought her hands up to her face and felt along her eyes. "My glasses," she muttered. She scanned around the room and finally saw her glasses lying on top of the bedside table. She gently picked them up and frowned when she saw its condition. The lenses were cracked and looked beyond repair. Sakura sighed as she placed the glasses back on the table. _Just great. And I can't waste money on another pair._

Sakura heard the door opened and looked over to the shadowy figure behind the curtains. "Back already?" she called out. The curtains pulled open and revealed a man with rebellious spiky black hair instead of blond.

"Oh, it's you," Sakura said with a sullen face.

"Nice to see you too," the dark raven-head said sarcastically.

"What are you doing here?"

"Does it matter?"

Sakura scowled. "Yes, in fact it very much matters."

"Man, aren't you grouchy when you wake up."

Sakura's head ache as she rubbed her temples. "Shut up, chicken-head."

Sasuke stared at Sakura with a stunned look on his face. "What did you call me?" he growled.

Sakura smiled smugly. "I called you chic-ken-head," Sakura said as she emphasized each word. "That means I think you have the hair of a chicken's ass and the brain of one too."

Sasuke growled. "You're lucky you're a girl or else I would have pummeled you by now."

Sakura scoffed. "Is that supposed to be a threat? You can go ahead and try to hit me… if you can."

Sasuke muttered curses under his breath. He glared at the pink-headed girl. "Do you know who you are talking to? I'm a very big and important person in Japan."

Sakura laughed. "The only thing that is big about you is the size of your ego."

"Listen, woman. I only came here because for some odd reason, I couldn't shake this uneasy feeling and it was getting on my nerves so I came to see how you were doing."

Sakura scoffed. "So, you mean to tell me that you actually feel _guilty_?" she questioned.

The raven-haired man grunted. "Is that what it is called?"

Sakura smirked. "So, is this your first feeling of guilt?"

Sasuke grunted again. "Does it ever go away?"

"Perhaps, if I forgive you. But that depends on how I feel about you and right now it's not a very positive feeling."

Sasuke glared at Sakura and Sakura gave a glare back. The curtain opened and Naruto stepped in. He looked at the two people in front of him who were still glaring at each other.

"Uh, Sakura? Sasuke? Did I interrupt something?" Naruto asked.

Sakura and Sasuke whirled around and shouted in unison, "WITH THAT PERSON?" They pointed their fingers accusingly at each other. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN WITH ME?" they shouted at each other.

"You should feel honor to have your name included with mines in the same sentence!" Sasuke shouted at the pink-headed girl.

"That's just like you, you big-headed jerk!"

"Who are you calling big-headed, you forehead girl!

"FOREHEAD GIRL?" Sakura exclaimed loudly. "You chauvinist pig!"

They glared angrily at each other. Naruto stood dumbfounded by the curtains as he was unsure what he should do.

"I'm wasting my time arguing with you," Sakura muttered.

"I couldn't agree more," Sasuke retorted.

Sakura looked away from Sasuke and glanced outside the window, still fuming inside. The sky was beginning to darken and the bright full moon was just beginning to show behind the dark clouds.

_Ugh, how long have I been sleeping? _

Sakura jumped up from the bed as she slipped into her sneakers and ran over to Naruto who was carrying her clothes and schoolbag. She grabbed Naruto's arm forcefully and glanced at the digital watch worn over his wrist. The digits 6:24pm gazed back at her. Sakura stared wide-eyed at the time. "Oh my god," she muttered under her breath.

Sakura took her belongings from the surprised boy's hands and while holding everything under one arm, she took Naruto's hand and shook it quickly. "Thank you for everything but I must go," Sakura said in a rush. The blond stared back at the pink-haired girl with a confused look in his eyes and a faint blush on his cheeks from when Sakura grabbed his hands.

Sakura smiled apologetically and quickly shoved the curtains open and ran out. The two men stared at the girl's retreating figure as she ran out the door. A moment later, she came back and grabbed the watch that was sitting on top of the bedside table and ran back out without another glance at the two men.

When the door slammed shut behind her, Sasuke scratched his head and frowned. "She left while we were arguing with each other," he muttered.

Naruto remained quiet but the faint rosy color still remained on his face as he stared at the door which Sakura had left through. "She held my hand," he said in a dazed voice.

Sasuke grunted. "Hn. Who wants to hold hands with that kind of girl?"

Naruto sighed happily. "I do," he said with a dreamy look in his eyes.

Sasuke whacks the blond upside the head. "Dobe! Don't be having that stupid look in your stupid eyes about that stupid girl."

Naruto rubbed his head and growled at the raven-haired man. "Bastard! Don't be insulting Sakura-chan or I'll beat you up."

Sasuke smirked. "Hn. You never were able to beat me once when we were taking karate lessons."

Naruto only responded with another growl. "That's because you always had the good teacher."

Sasuke walked to the door. He opened it and looked back at Naruto as he walked out. "Hn. It's called skills." He stepped outside and the door closed behind the Uchiha.

Naruto scowled at the closed door. "Bastard," he muttered.

* * *

Sakura ran as fast as she could as the cool night breeze blew through her cheery-colored hair. She slipped the straps of the bag onto her shoulder and quickly stuffed her clothes inside. The cold wind blew against her legs as she shivered in her gym uniform. She ran even faster and finally came to a stop in front of the nightclub. She glanced at her watch. In the dim light of the streetlights, she read 6:58pm on her watch. She sighed in relief.

_I made it on time._

Sakura pushed the heavy doors in front of her wide opened as she stepped inside the club. Tsunade walked out from behind the stage curtains as she hurried over to Sakura.

"Sakura! You're late!" Tsunade cried out.

Sakura pointed her finger to her watch in protest. "I'm two minutes early! Give me a break."

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "You're half an hour later than usual."

Sakura smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Tsunade-sama. I got knocked out by an orange basketball from a conceited, arrogant jerk and then lost all memories of who I was and then had to be driven over here by a red and white ambulance with sirens blasting like crazy just so I could make it here on time."

Tsunade frowned. "Sakura, I'm sorry to say that even Jiraiya came up with a better excuse than you."

Sakura grinned. "At least the first half of it is true."

The blonde woman sighed. "Alright then. Just go and change into your outfit. The customers will be coming in here soon and two of the waitresses called in sick so you are going to have a bit of work ahead of you."

Sakura groaned. "And I thought I would be having an easy night tonight."

Tsunade smiled. "Well Jiraiya's going to pay you triple for this night."

Sakura's face brightened. "That could work!" Sakura tapped her finger on her chin. "But isn't it a Monday? It shouldn't be too hectic around here to have that many waitresses."

The blonde woman laughed. "We booked a band today and the place will probably be pretty packed up soon."

Sakura nodded. "Alright."

The pink-headed to the back of the stage and walked down the short hallway to the dressing room. The first room was Sakura's dressing room when she had performances on Fridays as Miss Saki. But Sakura uses it during the weekdays to change into her work clothes. Sakura dropped her bag on the floor and placed her regular clothes on the small sofa in the room. She opened up the small closet which had a bunch of different outfits for her many performances that Tsunade makes her wear. She sorted through the outfits to find her waitress uniform at the very end. She took it out and quickly changed into it. Sakura's fingers fumbled with the small white buttons on the long-sleeved cream colored blouse. She finished buttoning up the shirt and then tucked it in her black skirt which came up to above her knees. Sakura looked into the mirror as she straightened up the small black bowtie and then clipped on her nametag that read 'Sakura'.

Sakura ran her fingers through her pink hair and pulled it back. She quickly got a rubber band and tied her hair up into a high ponytail so that her green emerald eyes were shown clearly. She removed her sneakers and socks and stepped into a pair of black heels. The short sturdy heels brought Sakura's height to another inch and seem to make her skirt look even shorter. She pulled on the hem on the skirt to try to have it cover her knees but the skirt refused to do so. Sakura sighed. _Oh well._

Sakura checked her appearance once more to see if everything was in order. She glanced at her watch. The time read 7:06pm. Sakura walked out the door and closed the dressing room door behind her as she walked out to the bar. The lights had gotten brighter as the dimly-lit area became brighter. Some people were starting to come in and find seats at the tables and couches. Sakura walked over to the bar counter where Idate was making several drinks.

"Seems like it's going to be a busy night," Sakura remarked as she sat down on a stool.

Idate didn't turn around but nodded his head. "Yeah, for you and me both. Another person called in sick and I have to cover his shift."

Sakura laughed. "Are we the unlucky ones, or what?"

Idate smiled and turned around. He set a tray of drinks in front of Sakura "This is for the table over there," he said as he pointed to a table in the far back of the club. Sakura nodded and took the heavy tray. She carefully balanced the tray on her right hand and walked over to the table.

She placed the drinks down in front of the three people seated at the table. One in front of a girl with chocolate-colored hair, another in front of a man with white eyes and the last in front of a man with unusual bushy eyebrows.

"Thank you," the girl said as she picked up her drink. She smiled at Sakura and Sakura smiled back at her.

The white-eyed man said nothing but gave a curt nod. Sakura hugged the tray against her chest and was about the turn around when someone grabbed her hand from behind. Sakura whirled around in surprise. The bushy eyebrows guy had grabbed firmly onto Sakura's hand and was staring intently at the pink-headed girl. The chocolate-haired girl giggled at the sight. The white-eyed man remained as stoic as ever but was observing the situation.

"Um, excuse me sir. But you're kind of like holding my…" Sakura began.

"Miss Sakura-san is it?" the busy eyebrows man asked as he read the nametag on Sakura's shirt. Sakura nodded slowly. _What's with this guy? _Sakura thought.

"Miss Sakura-san, will you honor me with a dance?" he asked.

Sakura stared at the man in front of her with a shocked look. She gaped at him and was unsure what to say. Thankfully, she heard Idate calling out to her. "Sakura, I have another tray for you."

Sakura quickly took her hand out from the man's grasp. "Uh, I have to get to work. Sorry!" she quickly said as she scurried off.

"My name is Rock Lee!" he called out after her. "Do not forget me, Miss Sakura-san!"

Sakura slammed the empty tray on top of the counter and took a deep breath. She was out of breath since she ran away as fast as she could.

Idate looked at the panting pink-headed girl as he set another tray of drinks down on the counter.

"Sakura, are you alright? You look like you just ran a marathon."

Sakura looked up at the dark-haired man and smiled sheepishly. "I--it's nothing. Just some weird customers."

She took the tray filled with drinks and with a smile she asked, "So, where does this tray go?"

Idate pointed his finger to some people sitting on the couches. Sakura nodded and brought the drinks over to the people. For the next half hour, Sakura worked busily as she brought drinks and appetizers to the customers and took the empty glasses and plates to be washed.

Sakura brought a tray of dirty glasses to the bar counter and gave it to the man who was busy washing glasses and plates. She walked to the other side of the bar counter where Idate was making some more drinks. Sakura collapsed down on the stool in exhaustion as she waited for the next tray.

Idate turned around and placed five drinks on the tray. "This is for the table over there," Idate said as he pointed to a table. Sakura looked over to the table and spotted the girl with the chocolate-colored hair and the white-eyed man. The bushy eyebrows guy was nowhere to be seen. Instead, two new people were sitting with them. Sakura gasped. A girl with long blonde hair and a man with raven black hair were sitting besides the other three.

_Sasuke and that Yamanaka girl from my class? What are they doing here?_

Sakura groaned. "I don't want to."

Idate wiped his hands on a small hand towel. "Why not?"

"Don't ask."

"But you have to," a voice said from behind Sakura. Sakura whirled around to see Anko sitting on a stool and eating odango.

"Anko!" Sakura exclaimed in surprise. Anko grinned while chomping on her odango. She finished off the last one and dumped the skewer on the table. The dark violet-haired woman picked up the tray and handed it to Sakura. "Look, there's a cute guy sitting over there."

Sakura frowned. "I don't see anything cute about that guy."

"I never said which one was the cute one."

Sakura blushed in embarrassment. "Well, I still don't want to."

Anko shoved the tray into Sakura's hands. "Too bad. It's your job."

"I never liked this job anyway," Sakura grumbled as she slowly turned and walked slowly to the table grudgingly.

Anko shouted behind her, "Hurry up Sakura! Can you be any slower?"

"Shut up, please," Sakura muttered. Sakura reached the table and quickly set the drinks down without making eye contact with Sasuke. Everyone was deep in conversation and they seem to not notice Sakura who was placing their drinks in front of them. Sakura placed the last drink down and quickly turned around and sighed in relief that Sasuke didn't notice her. She was about to walk off when a voice called out to her.

"Is that you? Forehead girl?" Sasuke called out in a questioning tone.

Sakura didn't turn around and merely shook her head. It was obvious that she couldn't hide it since her pink hair was a big give-away. She sighed and turned around.

Sasuke smirked when he saw her. "What are you doing here?" he asked in a mocking tone.

Sakura shot back at him, "I work here, obviously." Sakura gestured towards her uniform.

"A working girl, huh? Good for you."

Ino snuggled up against Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun, who's this?"

"Some annoying girl in our class," Sasuke responded.

Sakura glared at that response. "You're not that great either." With that said, Sakura turned on her heel and stomped away.

Ino looked back the retreating figure of the pink-headed girl. _She seems familiar, _Ino thought.

The blonde woman leaned her head against Sasuke's shoulder. "I can't believe that girl just talked back to you like that."

Sasuke grunted something inaudible. "Yeah, she's a strange one. She doesn't even know who I am."

Tenten laughed. "I like her. She's got spunk."

Tenten looked over to Neji. "Right?" she asked as she nudged the white-eyed man. Neji slowly nodded. "No girl has ever talked back to Uchiha, that's for sure."

Tenten sat back in her seat. "I would like to know her better."

"WHAT?" Sasuke exclaimed. "Why would you want to meet a girl like that? She has no respect for people."

Tenten snorted, "I bet she has more respect for people than you do, Uchiha Sasuke."

Ino wagged her finger at Tenten. "Don't be mean to Sasuke-kun, Tenten."

Tenten rolled her eyes. "I was being truthful."

Sasuke grumbled under his breath, "Be friends with her if you want. I don't care. I have nothing to do with girls like that."

Tenten shot back, "I never asked for your approval of who I should be friends with."

Ino sighed. "Tenten, Sasuke-kun didn't mean it like that." Ino hugged onto Sasuke's arm as she tilted her head to look at Sasuke. "And you better not have anything to do with that girl. After all, you're mine."

"Hn," Sasuke replied.

Neji sighed. "You three talk too much."

* * *

Sakura walked back and slumped down on the stool in front of Idate. Idate placed a drink in front of Sakura. Sakura sighed. "Who's this for?" she asked.

The dark-haired man grinned. "It's for you. My treat."

Sakura's eyes brightened. "Really? For me?"

Idate nodded. "After seeing you working so hard, I think you deserve a drink."

Sakura smiled. "Thanks, Idate-san," she said happily as she sipped at her drink.

Sakura placed the tray down on the counter and gazed up at the band. The song they were playing came to an end as the lead guitarist ended the song with a smooth flourish. The audience started to clap and Sakura set her drink down to applaud for the band.

The band members waved out to the audience and started to pack up their instruments and equipment. Sakura leaned against the counter in disappointment. "I barely got to listen to them because of all the customers," Sakura said with a disappointed sigh.

The band left the stage and music began to play over the sound system. Sakura stretched her arms and glanced at her watch. It was 9:30pm.

"Half an hour before closing today," Sakura remarked.

Idate, who was wiping the counter, dropped his towel on the countertop and grabbed Sakura's hands. "Then let's go dance."

"Wha--? But the customers…" Sakura protested.

Idate ignored her protests. "I'll have someone cover for me and since there are less people now since the band is gone, there won't be as much requests for drinks."

"But, but--"

Idate placed his finger on Sakura's lips. "Shh, you think too much."

Sakura quieted down when Idate's finger was pressed against her lips. When Idate removed his finger, Sakura quietly replied, "Do not."

Idate laughed. "Do too," he said as he dragged Sakura onto the dance floor.

The area was less empty than before since most of the people had left. A few remained and were slowly dancing to the slow song playing over the sound system.

"I don't really want to dance. Besides, I'm no good," Sakura protested.

"Lies. I know that you took dance classes before."

Sakura frowned. "Remind me to never ever tell you anything about myself ever again."

The dark-haired man laughed. "Sure, but first you have to loosen up and stop stressing."

"Who says I'm stressing?" Sakura retorted.

Idate poked at Sakura's shoulder. "Your shoulder is so tense that my finger is now injured from poking it."

"I am not responsible for the bodily harm you may get from being in contact with me."

An upbeat song started up and Sakura couldn't help but tap her heels against the floor. Slowly she bobbed her head to the music and hips began to sway. Idate looked at Sakura with a smile.

"This feels like second nature to you doesn't it?" he asked softly.

Sakura glanced over at Idate. "What do you mean?"

"You're starting to dance," Idate pointed out.

"I was just making sure my joints were working properly," Sakura explained. Sakura averted her gaze from Idate. "And for your information, it's first nature."

Idate laughed and Sakura smiled. The pink-headed girl grabbed Idate's hand. "Let's go dance then." Idate followed Sakura's lead as they began to dance to the music. Sakura's movements flowed with the music as she closed her eyes. She could feel the song enveloping around her and taking over her body. She opened her eyes and stared into Idate's smiling face. She began to softly sing the words to the song and continued to dance along to the song. Idate reached over to Sakura and pulled off the rubber band that held her pink hair up high. Sakura's glossy pink hair tumbled down and rested over her shoulders.

Sakura bounced her head to the beat as she grabbed Idate's head and tried to make him do the same thing. Sakura giggled at Idate's awkward dancing. "I think you should just stick to the chicken dance."

"I can't. I have been banned from doing that dance."

Sakura laughed. "No wonder."

* * *

Sasuke raised his glass as he let the liquid swished in the glass. Through the clear glass, he could see the pink-haired girl dancing with a dark-headed man. _Hn._

Sasuke forcefully slammed the glass down on the table. "Let's leave this place," he muttered as he grabbed his coat and walked out the door and into the cool crisp night air. Ino ran out after him in her blue strapless dress as she grabbed onto Sasuke's hand.

"Sasuke-kun, why are we leaving so suddenly?" Ino complained.

Sasuke turned his head at Ino and replied coolly, "You can stay if you want. I don't care." The raven-haired man shoved his hands into his pant pockets and walked off leaving the blonde woman standing in the cold.

"Damn," Sasuke muttered to himself. Today was not his day.


	4. Past Memories

**Song of a Cherry Blossom  
**by Diana-san

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Sakura took a deep breath as she stood in front of the classroom door. _Ugh. I don't want to see that jerk. Why does he have to be sitting in the back of me?_

Sakura sighed and turned the doorknob and went inside. The classroom was just as chaotic as yesterday and students were milling around and talking to each other. Some of the guys were throwing erasers and small objects at each other. Sakura scanned the room and saw no signs of the obnoxious raven-head. Sakura grinned as she went to sit down in her seat. She placed her schoolbag down on the floor and took out a book.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan!" a cheery voice yelled out.

Sakura looked up from her book and into the cheerful face of Naruto. "Morning Naruto," Sakura replied back.

Naruto sat down in the seat in front of Sakura and glanced at the book Sakura was holding. "What's that?" he asked as he pointed to the book. Sakura held the book up to his face so that he could read the title of the book. "Our homework assignment," Sakura explained. "Didn't you do it?" Sakura inquired.

Naruto blinked twice. "We had homework?" he asked.

Sakura laughed. "Yes, didn't you read the board?

Naruto scratched his head. "I think I was sleeping that time."

Sakura sighed. "Well, just cross your fingers that Kakashi-sensei doesn't call you up to explain what the book was about."

Naruto groaned. "Even if I did knew about the assignment, how could I finish reading a book in a day?"

"It's only a short story, Naruto."

"Reading is boring though."

Sakura shook her head. "But sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do." _Like serve drinks to an arrogant jerk. _

"Oh well. I'll just make something up if I get called on," Naruto said with a grin. Naruto thought for a moment before saying, "Say, where do you eat lunch at?"

"Lunch?" Sakura asked. Naruto nodded. Sakura looked out the window. "Well, I sit by the shady areas of the trees in the courtyard."

"Alright. I'll come find you there."

"Huh?"

Naruto grinned. "Let's eat lunch together!"

Sakura looked at the smiling face of Naruto and couldn't help but smile herself. Sakura nodded. "Okay."

Suddenly a few squeals went up in the room and Sakura looked to see what caused the commotion. She frowned when she saw who it was. She eyed the man with black hair that was rebelliously spiked with bangs that hung over his eyes. Just thinking about him made her head hurt.

Sasuke walked over to the last row and passed by Sakura without a word as he sat down in his seat.

Kakashi walked in and set his briefcase on top of the desk. "Alright, kiddies! Let's begin class!"

* * *

The bell rang signaling the end of the class. Sakura quickly packed up her stuff and grabbed her schoolbag and swung it over her shoulders.

"Sakura-chan! I'll find you outside in the courtyard!" Naruto said.

Sakura nodded. "Okay then."

She walked out and went outside to the courtyard. She walked over o the grove of trees and sat down. Under the shady leaves of the tree, she leaned against the trunk of one of the trees and closed her eyes. Even though it was fall, the weather still felt like summer. A nice breeze tickled against the back of Sakura's neck as Sakura tied her hair in a messy bun. Sakura opened her bag and brought her lunch out. She opened up the bento that contained her lunch. Meat and fish along with cooked vegetables laid on one side of the bento and the other side was the rice portion. She used her chopsticks and pondered over which she should eat first. She glanced up and gazed at the students eating lunch in the distance and continued to watch them as she ate.

She smiled when she saw a familiar blond head walking towards her. She waved to him to get his attention and the blond quickly ran over.

"Hey," Sakura said as Naruto sat down beside her. She noticed something in his hands and looked at it with interest. "What's that?" she inquired as she pointed to it.

Naruto opened his hand up and it revealed a bowl of instant ramen. Sakura stared bug-eyed at it. "How are you going to eat that?" she asked.

Naruto took out a thermos. "I'll just pour hot water on it and wait three minutes. But I always hated waiting the three minutes."

Sakura laughed quietly. She picked up a vegetable with her chopsticks and took a bite. "You seem different from the rest of the kids."

Naruto looked up from his bowl of ramen, his chopsticks raised up in the air. "Huh?" Naruto said between mouthfuls. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you don't seem to be overly obsessed with money like those other rich kids. You actually seem… well… normal."

Naruto lowered his chopsticks. "That's because I'm not rich."

Sakura looked at Naruto with confusion written in her emerald eyes. "What do you mean? Does that mean you got in with a scholarship?"

Naruto almost choked on his ramen. "Well, people say I'm a genius," he bragged. "But I'm not exactly the scholarship type."

"People say you are a genius?" Sakura asked.

"Okay, so they don't."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Then what?"

Naruto set his bowl down on the grass and placed his chopsticks on top of the bowl. "Well, for starters, Sasuke and I are friends."

Sakura nearly choked on her food. "You guys? Friends? You two don't seem to have that friendly, brotherly bond."

"My parents and his parents were friends from way back and so Sasuke and I knew each other. After my parents died, the Uchihas took me in and treated me like I was another son. Since Sasuke's father owned this school, naturally, I went here too."

"Wait a minute. Sasuke _owns_ this school?"

"Actually, his dad does."

"He OWNS this school?"

Naruto nodded. Sakura gazed into the distance in disbelief. "Oh my god. Uchiha Sasuke… Uchiha Corporation." Sakura said in realization. Sakura slapped her head with her hand. "I can't believe I called the heir to the Uchiha Corporation a chicken head," she muttered.

Naruto laughed. "I love that name. It always gets to him every time and pisses him off when we were young." Naruto stopped laughing when he saw Sakura with a frown. "But, didn't you know he was an Uchiha?"

"Well, yes. But my brain must have been elsewhere."

"Have you been watching the news? The company is expanding out to other countries and getting bigger each year. When Sasuke turns eighteen, he's going to be the new president of Uchiha Corporation."

Sakura laughed nervously. "Well, I don't really watch the news. Or read the paper for that matter."

Naruto laughed. "So, what about you?"

"Huh? What about me?"

Naruto leaned against the tree. "You know… your life. You got in with a scholarship right?"

The pink-headed girl nodded. "A music scholarship." Sakura brought her knees up to her chins and wrapped her arms around them. "My life?" Sakura asked softly.

Naruto nodded slowly. Sakura stared up at the trees. The wind was blowing swiftly against the branches and the leaves were drifting slowly down to the ground as autumn should have it. A small green leaf fell into the open palm of Sakura's hand and Sakura clutched it tightly. "I'm an only child. My parents loved me dearly. They would always put my needs ahead of their own needs. They were the two most unselfish people I ever knew in my whole life," Sakura said softly as she played with the leaf. Naruto sat still and listened intently. Sakura looked out onto the campus grounds with a faraway gaze in her emerald green eyes. The light shade of green was glistened with tears but they dared not to fall.

Sakura closed her eyes. "It seemed so long ago… since that accident…" Sakura's voice faltered but she continued on, "I was packing my things since we were going to my grandparent's house…"

* * *

"_Sakura! Hurry up! We need to get going to Grandma's," Sakura's mom yelled as she stuck her head out from behind the door._

"_Alright, alright," Sakura grumbled as she jumped off from her luggage. "I don't see why we have to visit them. They probably don't even want to see us. It's just one of those family gatherings where everyone is putting on a fake smile and pretending that there is nothing wrong." _

"_Sakura, they are your grandparents and they are my parents. We have to go and visit them."_

"_Why? Why do we have to go see them? They always looked down on Dad just because he was of lower status. But you went ahead and married him because you didn't care what they think. Now, they are always pushing on me and wanting me to marry into a rich family so that I wouldn't turn out like their only daughter. I hate them for belittling Dad and I hate their false love. They don't care about me. They just want me to marry into a good family so that I can make them proud," Sakura spat out in disgust. _

"_Sakura," her mom said in a warning tone. "They are your…"_

_Sakura interrupted. "Yes, I know. They are my grandparents after all," she mimicked her mother's tone. "But if they were really my grandparents, then they shouldn't treat Dad like that. Sometimes even I feel that they see me as inferior and that I'm not their granddaughter."_

"_Sakura, honey. They do love you. They love you very much and care about you deeply. They even paid for all of your lessons."_

_Sakura looked at her mom. "They are only paying for all those lessons because they feel guilty for not being there when I was younger. When you and Dad got married, they shut you two out of their lives because they didn't approve, right? Then they learned that you had a child but I was already twelve when they found out. To make up for that lost time spent with me as their only granddaughter, they agreed to pay for everything for me. Piano lessons, guitar lessons, dance lessons, and self-defense class. But other than that, what love did they truly show me?"_

_Sakura zipped up her duffel bag. "I don't know what grandparents do but everyone tells me all these stories of how their grandma would bake them delicious cookies and knit them sweaters they would never wear in public. Their grandpa would go fishing with them and at dinner, tell them old war jokes that everyone's heard a million times. Even though everyone complains of having to visit their grandparents, I know that they liked that bonding time they have with them. Something that I will never be able to experience."_

"_Sakura…"_

_Sakura looked at her mom with a cheerful smile. "Forget it Mom. I will be on my best behavior when we get there, okay?"_

_Sakura's mom nodded and the two walked out. Sakura lugged her luggage out her bedroom and carried it downstairs. She got in the car and slumped down in her seat. She got out her CD player and placed the headphones on her ears. Sakura turned up the volume and closed her eyes. It was going to be a long ride._

_When Sakura opened her eyes, she saw that the car was already parked in front of her grandparent's house. The house was surrounded by a large number of tall trees. It was on the outskirts of a small town that was 40 miles away from Konoha. _

_Sakura went to the trunk of the car and began to unload the luggage. "Don't worry, I got it Dad," Sakura said as her dad tried to help. _

_When Sakura was sure that her parents were already inside the house, she sighed in relief. "Now, I just have to see how much time I can waste standing out here with the luggage before they tell me to go in," Sakura muttered to herself. _

_Before long, Sakura was made to go in and she reluctantly stepped inside the grand house. Sakura's grandmother came running over and gave Sakura a big hug. Sakura gave a little hug back as she tried not to suffocate from the tight squeezing. Her grandfather came and ruffled her hair and Sakura smiled lightly. _

_After some light talking between her parents and her grandparents, they sat down for dinner. On Sakura's plate was a lavish looking steak. Sakura picked up the steak knife and poked at the piece of meat. _

"_This looks like rubber," she muttered to herself._

"_Honey, did you say something?" Sakura's mom asked._

_Sakura looked up with a startled look. "Oh no, I was just saying how nice the steak was done," she lied._

_Her grandfather waved his fork at Sakura. "You should eat up, Sakura. You're looking skinny." He turned to Sakura's mother. "Sayuri," he addressed her. "Haven't you been feeding the girl?" he chided._

"_Grandpa," Sakura interjected before her mother could say anything. "Mom's been taking very good care of me."_

"_Well, if you say so Sakura," he said as he cut into his steak._

_Sakura took a quick glance at her mom and saw a sad expression on her mother's face. Sakura sighed and began to cut a small piece of the steak. Frankly, she couldn't bring herself to enjoy the food because it would seem as if she was giving in to their rich and comfortable lifestyle. She raised the fork with the piece of steak attached to it to her mouth and looked at everyone seated at the table. She felt as if they were all watching her eat even though each person was concerned with their own meal. Sakura ate the piece of steak and chewed thoughtlessly. The savory taste of the steak covered in sauce melted in her mouth but all she could taste was dryness. She felt uncomfortable at the table since it was quiet and the only sounds came from the clinking of forks hitting against the fine dinner plates. _

_The silence was finally broken when her grandmother began to speak. "Sakura, have you had your eye on any nice young man?"_

"_Grandma!" Sakura exclaimed with a faint blush to her cheeks._

"_Mother! Sakura is only sixteen," Sakura's mother exclaimed after her daughter._

"_Hah! Girls are married at sixteen and I was married when I was sixteen," Sakura's grandmother retorted._

"_Grandma, they need parental consent to marry at sixteen," Sakura replied coolly. _

"_Well, I give you my 100 percent consent," Sakura's grandmother answered._

"_You're not my mother."_

"_That's right," Sakura's mother said. "I am her mother and you shouldn't be pushing Sakura into marriage so quickly. She's only sixteen and still has high school to finish."_

_Sakura's grandmother looked at her only daughter, Sayuri. "Did I ask for your opinion? I was only merely asking if Sakura has met anyone she liked yet."_

"_Mother! For Christ's sake! Your only reason for asking was because you want her to get married."_

"_And so what if I do? She's a bright girl with a bright future ahead of her. I don't want you to ruin her future by making her marry some pauper."_

_Sakura's mother stood up angrily. "And what is that suppose to mean? Are you still holding something against me after all these years? Do you still not approve of the choice that I chose to make?"_

_Sakura's grandmother stood up. "Of course, I don't. I never did. How could I approve of something that went completely against what I believed in? I raised you up as a fine lady so that you can have the best. I sent you to all the good schools and eventually knew that you would be married into a good family. But instead, you did the unexpected. You dropped out of college because you met somebody and then decided to get married. You knew I didn't approve and yet, you went ahead and eloped!"_

"_But you know what? I do have the best!" Sakura's mother yelled.__ "I have a loving husband and a beautiful daughter. I finally found happiness which is something that I never had in this house when I lived here with you and dad. I was always miserable here in this house! I hated it here and I still do!"_

_Sakura stood up. "Stop it! The both of you! I had enough of all this yelling." Sakura slammed her hands against the table which caused the glasses of wine (and Sakura's apple cider) to shake. "I had enough! You all make me sick! I hate you all!"_

_Sakura grabbed the jacket that was hanging on her chair and stormed off. All of the grown-ups stood up and called after her but she ignored every one of their cries. _

_Sakura opened the door and ran outside into the cold. It was not dark yet and the sky was just a dim shade of dark blue. Sakura shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket and walked off into the woods. She didn't know how long she was walking but the fresh smell of cedar and pine made her feel comfortable as her feet stomped on the crunching leaves. The cool wind blew through her hair and it whipped against her face. _

_The pink-headed girl sighed. "I guess I should head back now," she muttered. The sky was starting to darken and stars began to littered across the night sky. As she walked closer back to the house, she heard loud screams and lots of shouting and yelling. Quickly, Sakura started to run and when she came to the edge of the woods, she stood with her feet planted firmly on the ground as she stared in shock._

_The magnificent house was now erupted in flames and smoke rose into the night sky. Two fire trucks were parked out in front of the house and firefighters were busy trying to put out the flames. Some other people who drove up in cars stopped to stare in horror._

_Sakura ran from her frozen place and up to one of the firefighters. She grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and shook him hard. "My parents," she screamed. "Where are they?!"_

_The fireman placed his hands calmly on top of Sakura's shaking hands. "Is this your house?" he asked calmly._

_Sakura removed her hands from his jacket. "I-it's my grandparents' house."_

_Several men came out of the burning house and came up to the man who Sakura grabbed. "Chief," one of them said. "There seems to be no survivors."_

_Sakura stared at the ground with a stunned look on her face. She drowned out the rest of the words and ran towards the burning house. _

"_Miss! Stay away!" several of the firefighters yelled out. Sakura ignored their shouts and continued to run. Before she could make it to the door, two men grabbed onto each of her arms. Sakura struggled to escape from their firm grip._

"_Let me go!" she shrieked. "I have to go. I have to save them."_

_The two men held on to Sakura's arms still and Sakura collapsed on the ground with tears spilling out and she collapsed in sobs. "WHY?" she screamed out before her head fell against the dirt floor of the ground. She let the tears fall out and watched the chaos around her._

_The two firefighters who were holding Sakura's arms let go and stood beside her. Sakura fingered the dirt on the ground and tears continued to fall freely down her moistened cheeks. "I never… I never got to apologize… for saying all those things…"_

_Sakura closed her eyes and the sirens, the screams, the shouts, and the yelling all disappeared into silence. _

"_Miss," someone said softly and shook Sakura's shoulders gently. Sakura's eyes fluttered open. A man with gray hair and gentle brown eyes was looking at her and shaking her. It was the same man who Sakura grabbed by the collar._

"_Miss," he continued on. "Do you have somewhere to go?"_

_Sakura shook her head. "N-no," she croaked._

_The next thing she knew, she was riding in the ambulance. She closed her eyes as she hugged the blanket that was given to her before the ride. She refused to cry anymore. She had already cried her heart and soul out. _

* * *

"I'm sorry for your loss," Naruto said softly.

Sakura turned to look at the blond. She smiled. "It's alright. I got through it. I'm okay now."

They stayed silent as Naruto watched the pink-headed girl staring off into space. "It's not whether you fall or not, but whether you choose to get up when you're down," Sakura murmured the saying her mom would always tell her.

The bell rang which signaled the end of lunch. "Let's get to class, Naruto."

Naruto nodded and helped Sakura up. Sakura smiled. "Enough of all this sad talk. Let's go learn."

Naruto groaned. "That's even sadder talk."

Sakura rolled her eyes and dragged Naruto by the collar of his shirt. "C'mon. I don't want to be late."

* * *

Sakura finished lacing up her sneakers as she got ready for her next class. Gym was over and she only had one more class to go. She glanced at her schedule. _This was the class that I missed yesterday._

Sakura's last class was Music. Sakura sighed. _I can't believe I missed the first day of what should be my most favorite class._

Sakura slung her schoolbag over her shoulders and walked down the hallway of the third floor of the school building. She turned a corner at the end of the hallway and then another small turn in the corridor. She stopped in front of a door marked with the numbers 300. The tardy bell rang and Sakura pushed the door opened.

Sakura blinked her eyes twice to see if she was seeing things correctly.

"Where is everybody?"

* * *

A/N: Now who decided to make everyone disappear? Oh wait, that's me...


	5. Music Class 101

**Song of a Cherry Blossom  
**by Diana-san

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Sakura stepped inside. The room was deserted and not a person was in sight. "Where is everyone?" she muttered. She dropped her bag on the ground and sat in one of the chairs. She gazed around the room.

_Strange. There are so little seats in this room. Is everyone else standing up?_

Sakura stood up and looked around the room. In the back of the room were a piano and also several music stands. A bookcase was placed on the side and it held many music books and music sheets. Sakura took a book out and flipped through the pages.

"Hey!"

Sakura dropped the book in surprise and whirled around. A young woman with long wavy black hair was standing at the door. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Uh, I'm waiting for my class?" Sakura answered.

"Class? Are you the girl who got in with the music scholarship?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes. Do you know where the teacher is?"

The woman smiled. "I'm the teacher."

Sakura's mouth dropped open. "Y-you?"

"Yeah. Are you surprised?" The woman walked in the classroom and sat down on a desk chair in the front of the room while dropping a book on the desk.

Sakura straightened up and cleared her throat. "Surprised? Of course not."

The woman laughed. "So, you're the student who didn't show up yesterday?"

Sakura blushed. "I was knocked out by a basketball."

"So I heard. The school nurse, Shizune, sent me the report."

Sakura walked up to the front of the room and stood in front of the desk. "Miss…"

"I'm Yuhi Kurenai."

"I'm Haruno Sakura." Sakura glanced at the door. "Um, Kurenai-sensei, if none of the other students show up, does that mean you're not going to start class?"

"Other students? What others?" Kurenai asked.

Sakura stared blankly at her teacher. "Uh, isn't this supposed to be a class?"

"Yes, but you're the only student."

Sakura pointed to herself. "O-only student?" she echoed. "How come?"

Kurenai folded her hands and rested her head on top of them. "This class was specifically made for you," she started to explain.

"Wait. Hold it," Sakura said as she held her hand up in front of Kurenai's face. "Specifically? For me?"

Kurenai smiled. "That's right. After listening to your demo CD, there was no doubt that you were going to be chosen for the scholarship. Your voice was pure and natural and it showed potential."

Sakura was stunned. "Are you sure that was me that you were listening to?"

Kurenai tilted her head to the side. "Do you not believe it?"

"Not really."

The raven-haired woman smiled. "If you don't believe in yourself, then who will?"

Sakura scratched her head. "Well, I love to sing and all but I didn't think I was that good. I knew that I wasn't horrible but…"

Kurenai sighed. "No buts. If I say you're good then you're good. And I don't say that a lot about people."

Sakura nodded quickly. "Okay," she said meekly.

Kurenai stood up. "You wrote down that you could play two instruments?"

Sakura nodded. "Piano and guitar," she answered.

Kurenai walked around the table and guided Sakura to a seat. She motioned for Sakura to sit down and the pink-headed girl immediately sat down. Kurenai walked to the back of the room and opened another door that lead into another room. "I'm sorry I don't have everything ready since we hadn't had a music class for so long."

"Oh, that's okay," Sakura replied. She tried to peer at the room next door but she couldn't see anything with the door blocking her view. There was a large window that was the length of half the room but curtains covered it up from the inside of the other room. She could see the light go on in the mysterious room and Sakura sat up from her seat to try to get a closer look. When she saw her teacher walking back out, she quickly sat back against the chair. Sakura almost fell out of her seat since she sat so abruptly on the chair.

"Here," Kurenai said as she handed Sakura a microphone. Sakura grabbed onto the microphone and glanced at it.

"Uh, what am I suppose to do with it?" she asked. Kurenai looked at Sakura like she was crazy. "I believe you sing into it," Kurenai responded.

"Right now?" Sakura asked. Kurenai nodded. Sakura stood up and held onto the microphone tightly. She opened her mouth and Kurenai waited for Sakura to begin singing. Silence dawned upon both of them as no words came out of Sakura's opened mouth.

"Sakura," Kurenai said as she snapped her fingers at Sakura's blank look. "Do you have stage fright or something?"

Sakura shook her head. "We're not even on a stage."

Kurenai laughed. "Have you ever sung in front of people?"

The pink-haired girl nodded. "Yes, ever since I was little."

"Then what's wrong?"

"Sakura smiled sheepishly. "I'm not sure what I should sing," she admitted. "I mean, what would you like to hear?"

"How about the song you sang on the demo?" Kurenai suggested.

"A cappella?" Sakura asked.

Kurenai crossed her legs. "Yes, I want to hear your voice without a guitar."

"Okay," Sakura said. She cleared her throat before starting. She held tightly on the microphone and closed her eyes as she let the words flow out of her she was finished, Sakura opened her eyes. Kurenai sat there with a smile and she stood up and clapped. Sakura smiled and did an awkward bow.

"Thank you," Sakura said politely.

"That was beautiful. I heard you wrote that song," Kurenai said. Sakura nodded.

Kurenai smiled. "That's talent." She glanced at her watch. "The bell's going to ring any minute so we'll just end here for today. Tomorrow, we'll start the serious work."

Sakura grinned. "Alright then."

* * *

Sakura stretched her arms as she walked out through the wide double doors of the academy. The second day of school had officially ended. Sakura was exhausted. She felt tired since she barely got any sleep last night. She had stayed up to one in the morning to complete all her homework. When she did finish her homework, she had trouble falling asleep. All she did was toss and turn in her small bed all night.

Sakura sighed as she let a yawn escape from her mouth. _Why must my life suck so badly?_

"Sakura-chan!"

The loud voice pierced through Sakura's ears as it awakened her from her sleepy state. She turned around and saw Naruto running towards her. She half-heartedly waved to him and when he came up to her, he bent down to peer at Sakura's face.

"You look tired. Didn't you get enough sleep?" he asked in concern.

Sakura shook her head. "I feel exhausted."

"You seemed okay at lunch."

"That must have been from that extra cup of coffee. It kept me awake through the entire day. Now that the caffeine has worn off, I feel like hell."

Sakura moaned as she tried to keep awake. She began to walk to the school gate where all the cars were driving out.

"Watch out! Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted suddenly.

Sakura immediately stopped as her foot froze in mid-air. A black Porsche stopped in front of Sakura, the side of the car just barely touching Sakura's foot.

Sakura collapsed on the ground. Her heart was pounding fast as if her life just flashed before her eyes. She had barely missed getting hit by the black car. Naruto ran over to Sakura who was shivering with fear. Naruto bent down and gazed at Sakura with a concerned look.

"Sakura-chan! Are you alright?" Naruto asked as he gently shook Sakura's shoulders.

Sakura said nothing but she clutched the strap of her schoolbag even tighter and the knuckles on her hand turned white from holding the bag too tight. She closed her eyes. The scare felt almost exactly to when she first heard that her parents were dead. It felt all too real.

_To think, that life can end just like that. In an instant, and all can be gone. _

Sakura opened her eyes when she heard the sound of the car window of the black sports car go down. The tinted car window of the front started to go down and it revealed Sasuke's dark black hair. Sasuke stuck his head out of the window.

"What are you doing on the ground, Pinky?" Sasuke said with a smirk.

Sasuke's voice echoed throughout Sakura's mind. _Pinky, Pinky, Pinky. _The word repeated itself over and over. Sakura narrowed her eyes. She jumped up from her once shaken-up state and stomped towards the sports car. She pointed a finger threateningly at the dark-headed man.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL ME PINKY AFTER YOU ALMOST KILLED ME WITH THIS STUPID CAR OF YOURS!" Sakura shouted at him. To prove her point, she kicked the car door in front of her, HARD.

"HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO MY CAR?" Sasuke yelled as he poked his head out to look at the damage done to his car door. He sighed in relief when he saw that it made no visible dent.

"I'M DOING WHAT YOU DESERVE, YOU JERK! I COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED FROM YOUR STUPID CAR! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOUR MONEY AND I HATE YOUR STUPID LOOKING FACE! I WISH YOU GO JUMP OFF A CLIFF!"

Sakura glared at Sasuke before storming off through the school gates.

"Geez, what's her problem?" Sasuke grumbled.

"Bastard!" Naruto shouted. "Why didn't you apologize to Sakura-chan?"

"Why should I apologize to her? She was the one who kicked my car."

"Sasuke-teme! You could have killed her with your damn car."

"I stopped just in time, didn't I?" Sasuke said with an emotionless face.

"You don't know what she's been through. To lose everything all at once and start everything over by herself. She had it worse off than me," Naruto sputtered out angrily.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked irritated. Angrily, Sasuke jabbed a button as the windows began to slide up. "No harm was done and everyone goes nuts on me," he muttered as he pressed on the gas pedal.

* * *

Sakura trudged along the sidewalk. She kicked a small rock to the side.

"Stupid jerk," she muttered all along as she continued to walk and kicked rocks to the side.

"Inconsiderate, stupid, arrogant, self-centered pretty boy." Sakura clutched onto her bag tightly. "Dumb jerk."

Sakura was busy cursing out at the object of her hatred to notice that someone was following her. Sakura stopped walking. Sakura glanced up at the sign hanging above the night club.

_I might as well go to the club early. I can't concentrate on anything else._

Sakura walked inside the club. She glanced at her watch. It was already half an hour past two.

"Tsunade-sama? Jiraiya-sama?" Sakura called out as she entered inside the darkened club. "Why is it so dark in here?" she muttered.

She stumbled as she walked in the dark. "Damn, where's the light switch?" Sakura fumbled around the wall until her hands felt the familiar shape of a light switch. She turned it on and the place began to light up. "That's better," she said to herself.

"Tsunade-sama? Jiraiya-sama?" Sakura called out once more. Sakura walked to the front of the stage and climbed on. She walked to the back of the stage and went behind the curtains. "Where is everyone?" she muttered to herself.

A faint smell of sake found its way to Sakura's nose. Sakura narrowed her eyes as she followed the smell to a room. She paused in front of the door and could see light coming out through the crack at the bottom. Sakura rested her hand on the doorknob and turned it. She pushed the door opened and suddenly the lights went off. Sakura's foot froze in mid-air as she was about to step inside the room. She looked around the dark room in confusion. She then stepped out and closed the door behind her. Just as the door closed, Sakura quickly reopened it again.

"AHA!" she cried out. Tsunade, Jiraiya, Anko, Dosu, Kin, Zaku, and some of the waitresses and workers who worked at the club all froze in action. Sakura had caught them all in action. Many of them seemed drunk and Tsunade and Jiraiya were the worse off.

Sakura stomped in and took the half-drank bottle of sake from Tsunade's hands. "Tsunade-sama! How many times do I have to tell you not to drink sake so much?"

Tsunade looked up at the pink-haired girl with a drunken smile. "Once more?"

Jiraiya made a perverted laugh and he grabbed onto Sakura's hand. "Sakura, dear, you're looking so beautiful," he said drunkenly. Sakura's eyebrow twitched and she pounded her fist on Jiraiya's head.

"You're as bad as Tsunade," Sakura scolded.

Jiraiya shrank back and lowered his head in disgrace.

Sakura placed her hands on her hips and glared at the bunch. "Shame on all of you! Drinking again? How long has this been going on behind my back?"

Anko waved a sake bottle around in the air. "Lighten up, Sakura," Anko said in a drunken voice. Anko slumped over and fell asleep on top of the table set in front of them. The bottle tumbled out from her hand and sake began to spill out.

Sakura sighed as she massaged her temples. The group in front of her was all drunk and most of them were starting to fall asleep or already fast asleep.

"This is pathetic," she muttered to herself.

Sakura walked out the room. "Great. Just great," she muttered. "The band's drunk. How am I'm going to practice now?"

Sakura walked to her dressing room and went inside. She flipped the light switch on and her gaze fell on top of the guitar that lied against the wall. She walked over to it and crouched down. Sakura touched the smooth surface of the guitar and picked it up gently in her hands. She strummed her fingers along the guitar strings and gave a small smile. She treasured the guitar like her life. It was given to her from her parents as a birthday present when she turned ten. She had taught herself how to play and then went to take lessons to improve on her playing. Sakura hugged the guitar close to her chest. It was the only thing that held her close to her parents. She would die if something happened to it.

Sakura stood up and brought the guitar out with her. She went out to the stage and brought a stool up so she could sit. She plucked a few strings with her guitar pick to test out the sound and then closed her eyes as she began to play a familiar song. The very first song that Sakura learned to play. She hummed along with the music as she sat underneath the stage lights that illuminated her pink hair and. Then she began to sing. The soulful tune blended in with her sweet melodic voice as she sang the words that went along with the music.

Sakura suddenly stopped in the middle of the song when she heard a sudden noise. She looked up and gasped. Sakura's guitar pick fell out of her right hand and crashed onto the stage floor noiselessly. The familiar person stood in front of her and watched her with an astonished look. His eyes bore into Sakura's own emerald eyes.

"You're Saki?" he breathed out.


	6. Secrets and Kisses

**Song of a Cherry Blossom  
**by Diana-san

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

"Sakura is Saki. Saki is Sakura," he said in a daze. Standing before Sakura was a dazed looking blond Naruto with confusion written all over his face.

"No I'm not," Sakura said in a rushed voice.

"Yes you are!" He grabbed Sakura's chin and looked around at her features. "Without your sunglasses and blonde hair, you look exactly like her."

Sakura pushed him away. "I look like a lot of people. My grandpa once thought I was my mother."

"You're Saki," he stated.

Sakura sighed as she let the silence and the news sink in.

"So now you know," she finally said.

"Why are you keeping such a big secret from everyone?"

Sakura bit her lower lip. She jumped off the stage. She placed her guitar gently on the stage and smoothed out her hair. "Because, I don't want to be treated differently because I can sing a few songs and play a guitar."

Naruto gave a confused look. "Why not?"

Sakura stared up at the bright lights on stage. "My dream is to become a well renowned singer. But, I have to complete school first. I don't want to be treated better than anyone else. I want to be left alone when I'm at school so that I could concentrate on school and my music. I have no time for boys, no time for popularity, and no time for friends."

Sakura touched her guitar and felt the smooth surface of the shiny guitar underneath her hand. "Nothing in this world matters to me except for my music. It's the only thing that is keeping me alive. Boys can break your heart, popularity can crush you, and friends can betray you."

"But-"

Sakura turned around and her piercing green eyes stared into the cerulean blue eyes of the blond in front of her.

"I once had a best friend in fifth grade. We would do everything together. She was my closest friend. We would share secrets and tell each other everything. But when we reached middle school, she became popular and we grew apart. She would ignore me in school and not even acknowledged my existence. It was like we were never friends. She gave up our entire friendship for some guy who wasn't even that cute." Sakura scoffed. "With friends like those, who needs enemies?"

"But not everyone is like that," the blond exclaimed.

Sakura gazed at Naruto sadly. "But aren't they? After all, we are all imperfect and capable of doing something to hurt someone. How can anyone trust anyone?"

"Do you really believe that?"

Sakura sighed. "I don't know what I believe in anymore."

"Sakura-chan…"

"Naruto," Sakura interjected. "Please promise me that you won't tell anyone at school about me."

"But, Sakura-chan, I'm not good at keeping secrets and-"

Sakura grabbed Naruto by the wrist. She pleaded with her green eyes. "Please, Naruto. It's the only thing I'll ever ask of you. Please don't let this secret of mine get out."

Naruto began to smile. "I won't."

Sakura smiled in relief.

"I won't…" Naruto said again. "…because you are my friend."

Sakura frozed.

* * *

_"Ne, Saku-chan, let's be friends." _

_A young pink-headed girl glanced up through her tears as someone offered a hand out. _

_"Friends?" she said between hiccups as she dried her eyes._

_"Ah, friends forever."_

* * *

"Friend?" Sakura echoed.

Naruto smiled and gave a thumbs-up. "We're friends right? And I don't betray any of my friends."

Sakura looked down at her feet. _Friends? With him?_

The pink-haired girl looked up at smiled.

Naruto glanced at his watch. "I have to go now so I'll see you tomorrow at school, alright?"

The blond turned around to leave but Sakura grabbed him by his arm. Naruto turned around in surprise. Sakura stared down at her shoes. "Um, on Friday, I perform on stage again… I would like it if you would come and watch me."

Naruto grinned. "Sure!"

Sakura looked up and grinned. "Okay then." Sakura released her hand from Naruto's arm. "I'll see you there then," she said.

A noise came from the back and Sakura whirled around. "Looks like everyone back there is starting to wake up," she said. A questioning look came from Naruto's face and Sakura turned back to him and smiled. "I got to go practice with my band now," Sakura explained.

Naruto gave a nod. "Then I guess I'll leave you to your practice." He gave a wave and jogged out the door.

Jiraiya stumbled up to Sakura. "What happened?" he asked drowsily.

"You got drunk that's what!" Sakura exclaimed.

Jiraiya chuckled and slumped down on a chair. Sakura sighed. It was going to be a long night. She glanced out the window and smiled. _Maybe not such a long night after all._

* * *

_Friday night_

Sakura adjusted her blonde wig until it completely covered her pink hair. She checked her reflection in the mirror and made sure that her contacts were on. After what happened with Naruto, she had decided that she needed to do a better job in hiding her identity. Tsunade had gotten her a pair of blue eye contacts which changed Sakura's jade green eyes into a cerulean color. Sakura picked up her sunglasses and pondered over whether she should wear them or not.

_Might as well. Can't hurt to be on the safe side.  
_

Sakura placed the shades on and smoothed out the sky blue dress that Tsunade had made her wear half an hour ago. The light blue dress went down to just above her knees and it was paired with a pair of heels, another thing that Sakura was also forced to wear to her dismay. Sakura had to admit though, when she looked in the mirror, that the dress went well with her blonde wig and fake blue eyes. A knock came at the door.

"Who is it?" Sakura called out.

"It's me," a familiar female voice replied. The door opened and Anko stuck her head in. "It's time," she said.

Sakura nodded and picked up microphone. "Let's rock and roll," Sakura said with a grin before heading out the door.

The lights in the club dimmed as the stage lights changed to a dark blue color. Everyone began to quiet down and it seemed as silent as night. Sakura walked out on stage carefully as she watched her step in the darkness.

In the crowd, Naruto could see the dark silhouette of Sakura or what everyone else thought was Saki. He grinned as he listened to the music starting to play.

The music started out softly like rain pattering against car windows. Then it began to get louder and the dark blue stage lights started to change colors to a vibrant light blue and then the usual white. The sudden brightness made the crowd excited and a few started to cheer. The music continued on slowly and then a single spotlight shone on Sakura.

She raised the microphone to her lips and started to sing. Sakura took the microphone out of its holder as the music changed to a faster pace. The lights started to shine all around the place as it illuminated the area.

* * *

The last song of the night ended as Sakura lowered her microphone. The crowd was still cheering and screaming along to the song. Sakura couldn't help but smile. She gave a wave to the crowd and walked off the stage and behind the black stage curtains.

Sakura hummed as she walked to her dressing room. She saw many familiar faces from her school and was surprised that the people who never paid any attention to her at school now noticed her as Saki.

_Goes to show how my secret needs to remain a secret._

Sakura sat down in her chair and yawned. She was dead tired and was glad that she didn't have school the next day. Sakura took off her sunglasses and they revealed her fake cerulean blue eyes. Sakura was then about to remove her wig when she heard a sudden noise at the door. Feeling cautious, Sakura went to the door and listened for any noise outside. When she didn't hear anything anymore, she slowly opened the door and peeked out. It was empty in the hallway and she could still see the lights from the stage and the crowd still dancing the night away.

_Strange, _she thought.

Sakura began to close the door when a hand stopped the door. Sakura froze in place. Her eyes traveled up the man's arm and into the face of Uchiha Sasuke. She gave a quiet squeak of a gasp.

"W-wha-what are you doing?" she stuttered out.

"I came to see you," he replied like they were old time friends.

"M-me?" she squeaked out.

"Yeah."

"Well, you saw me. Now it's time for you to go," Sakura said as she tried to close the door.

"Not so fast," Sasuke said as he placed his foot in front of the door. Sasuke smirked and stroked Sakura's cheek. "How about a date between you and me?" he said in a low voice.

Sakura's eyes stared blankly at him. _A date? You got to be kidding me?_

Sakura wasn't sure what to say. She was completely surprised and dumbfounded. She was at a loss for words. To think that the Uchiha Sasuke would ask her out for a date was completely mind blowing. Of course, he didn't know who she really was but it still came as a great shock for the pink-haired or rather blonde girl.

Sakura opened her mouth as she begged for words to come out and say something that will drive Sasuke away. All that came out was her minty breath and an inaudible sound that closely resembled a mouse squeaking. Sasuke stared at Sakura or who he thought was Saki with an amused look on his handsome face.

Then, suddenly, Sasuke leaned in and kissed Sakura lightly on the lips. Sakura blinked a second before Sasuke's lips met her own and she kept them wide opened as the thought of him kissing her processed through her brain.

_Oh. My. God._

Sakura waved her arms up and down in a panicked motion. She couldn't believe what was happening. She closed her eyes and could still feel Sasuke's lips pressing softly against her own cheery colored lips. Summoning the strength inside her, Sakura pushed Sasuke off. Sakura instantly raised her hands to her mouth as she still felt the kiss on her lips. Her cheeks flushed a bright pink and she stared awkwardly at Sasuke who was staring right back at her.

Sakura grabbed the doorknob of her dressing room door. "I'm sorry, but you have to leave," she said in a shaky voice. She quickly closed the door in front of Sasuke's face which surprised the Uchiha. He smirked at the closed door. _Interesting, _Sasuke thought as he walked away. He was satisfied with the night's ending.

Meanwhile, Sakura was leaning against the door and taking deep breaths to control her thoughts and emotions. _What the hell was that? _

That thought kept on running through her mind. Sakura removed her blonde wig and tossed it near the sunglasses that were resting on her vanity table. She also took off her contact lenses as she walked over to her chair and collapsed on it as she looked at her reflection.

Sakura quickly gave herself a few slaps to keep her sanity in check. _Why? Why? Why? _The repeated thought came back to Sakura. She was completely confused why she was just a standing doll awhile ago. _Damn it Sakura. You should have things under your control. How could you have let him kiss you so easily? Damn it!_

Sakura groaned. Her first kiss was stolen by an arrogant jerk. And it wasn't a kiss for her either. It was meant for Saki and not even for her.

_Wait a minute. So, that means he likes Saki. Ugh, just great. How am I going to face him when I see him again? He doesn't know that I know that he kissed me who he thought was actually Saki but really wasn't since it was really me. _

Sakura slapped her forehead. She was starting to get a major headache. "I hate him," she muttered. _Great. Just when I had forgotten the whole incident with his stupid car running me over, he goes and do something like this. Now, how am I ever going to let this go? If I see him again, my secret might somehow leak out. DAMN THAT UCHIHA!_

The pink-haired singer let out a frustrated groan. "He might still be outside," she muttered. Sakura got up from the chair and listened at the door. It was quiet but Sakura knew better.

_He might try another sneak attack. Better find another way._

Sakura looked around and spotted a window. She grinned a wide grin. She walked up to the window and stared up at it. It wasn't a very big window and it was high up so she couldn't see outside but Sakura figured that it would be able to fit her through. Sakura jumped up and down as she tried to grabbed onto the windowsill. Her fingers barely touched it as she fell back down and landed on her butt. She blew a piece of her hair out of her face as she sighed in frustration.

Sakura looked around the room and spotted her chair. She went over and dragged the chair to the spot underneath the window. Sakura climbed on and she was now able to see outside the window. She peered out and saw that it was a dark alleyway outside.

_Perfect!_

Sakura jumped off the chair and grabbed her apartment keys before getting back on the chair. The pink-haired girl then hoisted herself up and crawled out of the window. Sakura looked down and estimated that it was about a few feet drop. Sakura sighed. She wouldn't be able to land on the ground safely wearing heels. Sakura quickly took off her shoes and dropped them on the ground below her. Sakura jumped down and landed on the soles of her feet. She grabbed her shoes and placed them on quickly. The alleyway was cold and dark and Sakura shivered in her light blue dress.

_I just had to wear a dress that had no sleeves. Tsunade-sama couldn't have picked something else. It just had to be this one, _Sakura thought as she grumbled inaudible words.

The pink-headed girl marched out of the alleyway with her shoulders hunched up as she made curses towards Sasuke and the rest of the world.

"Making me have to do all this just so I could avoid that pervert," Sakura mumbled.

Sakura reached the end of the alleyway and stuck her head out to make sure that Sasuke wasn't around. When she saw that no one was outside the club and that everyone seemed to be still inside the club listening to music playing over the sound system, Sakura stepped out of the dark shadows of the alley and into the streetlights that shone down on the deserted sidewalk.

Sakura hugged herself to keep warm as she began to walk towards her apartment.

"Eh, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura whirled around in surprise. Naruto stood in front of her with a surprised expression.

"N-Naruto," Sakura stammered out. "W-what are you doing here?"

Naruto looked at the pink-headed girl with an amused expression on his face. "You invited me to come, remember?"

"I did?" Sakura said confused. Suddenly, she remembered. "Oh right, I did."

Sakura smiled at Naruto. "I'm glad you came."

Naruto grinned. "Wouldn't have missed it for the world. You were awesome."

Sakura laughed. "Thanks." She rubbed her shoulders as a cold wind blew past her.

"Are you cold?" Naruto asked concerned.

"N-no," she lied. There was a brief moment of silence. _I'm such a bad liar, _Sakura thought.

Naruto took off his black coat and handed it to Sakura. "Here," he said.

Sakura stared at the coat. "Naruto..." Sakura waved her hands and shook her head. "No, I'm fine, really. Once I get home, I'll be okay. You really don't have to offer me your jacket," Sakura said.

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "Are you sure?"

Sakura nodded. "Really, I'm fine."

"Okay then." Naruto tossed the jacket over his shoulder as he carried it with one hand. "Well, I just came out here to find that Sasuke-teme." Naruto glanced over his shoulder to the opened door of the nightclub. "He might be looking for me right now."

Sakura gasped. The gasp was a bit too loud and Naruto stared at her with a confused look on his face. "U-uh," Sakura began to stammer. "I just realized that I really have to go home now."

"Okay then. I'll walk you home," the blond offered.

"No, it's alright. I'll be fine. I walk home by myself all the time."

"But it's night out and it's not safe to go home by yourself."

"No, really-" Sakura began but she stopped when she heard a familiar voice.

_Sasuke._

"Naruto!" Sasuke's voice called out.

Sakura looked around her. People were starting to come out of the club and spilling out onto the streets. Sakura clutched onto her dress. _Okay, it's alright. If I see him, then I'll just act natural. Just act natural, _Sakura thought as she gave herself a pep talk. She glanced down at her dress. _Oh my god! If he sees me then he'll know! I didn't change into my regular clothes so I'm still in the same outfit that I wore when I performed and when I kissed-correction, when he stole my first kiss, _Sakura thought as she panicked.

Sakura looked at Naruto who was scanning the crowd. She gazed at the black coat over his shoulder. Without thinking, she grabbed the coat from Naruto's hand.

"You know what? I think I'll take up on that offer on your jacket," Sakura said as she slipped her arms into the coat. She hugged the jacket tight around her and was satisfied that the coat almost completely covered up her dress.

Naruto stood looking at Sakura with a dumbfounded expression. "Uh, okay…" Naruto said awkwardly.

"Hey," a voice came up from behind Naruto. Naruto turned around and saw Sasuke standing in front of him with a smug expression.

"Why do you have such a stupid look on your face?" Naruto asked with a smirk.

Sasuke smirked back at the blond. "How would I know? Probably from looking at your stupid face all the time."

Naruto scowled at the Uchiha. "Bastard," he muttered.

"Hn. Dobe." Sasuke glanced at the girl that was hidden behind Naruto. Sasuke tilted his head and took a closer look.

He noticed a lock of pink hair and smirked. "So what are you doing out here, Pinky?"

Sakura glowered at Sasuke with her piercing green eyes. Then, she turned around and stormed off in the other direction.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out after the pink-headed girl. When all he got in response was the retreating figure of the girl, Naruto turned to glare at Sasuke.

"Damn you! You still didn't apologize to her when you tried to run her over with your stupid car, didn't you?" Naruto yelled at the raven-head.

Sasuke stared stoically at the back of the pink-headed girl. "She seemed to have forgotten about it when I saw her in school."

Naruto frowned. "THAT was the reason that you decided to NOT apologize? Hell, she could just be good at hiding things and not showing her emotions when she's at school-" Naruto exclaimed. "-or when around you," he added darkly.

Sasuke glanced at Naruto. "Hn. What's that suppose to mean?"

"You're really dumb when it comes to girls," Naruto stated.

"Speak for yourself," Sasuke said before shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants. "C'mon, we still have some details to work out for tomorrow," he said as he turned around and headed toward the other direction where his car was parked.

Naruto sighed. He glanced back in the direction to where Sakura stormed off. It was dark and deserted. Naruto stared worriedly at the darkness in front of him. _Sakura-chan. Please get home safely._

With that last thought in mind, he turned and walked the other way where Sasuke was waiting by his car along with Ino, Neji, and Tenten.


	7. Sakura Pendant

**Song of a Cherry Blossom  
**by Diana-san

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Sakura woke up bright and early in the morning. The morning sunlight filtered in through the curtains that shielded the window.

Sakura yawned as she opened up her sleepy eyes. She blinked as the she bathed in the warm sunshine. With another yawn or two, she rolled off her bed. Sakura slipped her feet into her fuzzy slippers and walked to the bathroom.

After splashing cold water on her drowsy face and doing her daily morning routines, Sakura went to the kitchen and started to make breakfast which consisted of pancakes and orange juice.

As the pancake batter sizzled on the griddle, Sakura went to change out of her pajamas. Sakura sifted through her clothing in her small closet and took out a top.

_Mom bought this for me on 'that' day. _

Sakura fingered the light material. It was a gorgeous wide arm kimono style top. The striking pink and light orange colors flowed together like two rivers intertwining into one. It was made out of very lightweight sheer fabric so a tank top would be needed to be worn underneath. Sakura glanced out of her window and saw that it was a beautiful autumn day. The sun was shining brightly like it was still summer. Sakura smiled as she held the top up against her chest as she examined herself in the mirror.

_It would be perfect for a day like this. _

Sakura decided that her mind was made up as she placed the top down on her bed. Sakura rummaged through her drawers and took out a plain white tank top and threw it on the bed next to the top. She pulled out a pair of denim capri pants and laid it next to her other clothes.

Sakura sighed as she sat down on the bed. _But I'll be working today so there's no point in wearing it. _Sakura stood up and took another glance at the outfit.

"Oh, what the hell," she said finally as she changed into the outfit.

Sakura took a glance at herself at the mirror and was surprised that the top looked good on her. The colors on the top brought out her pink cherry blossom hair and the bright green color of her emerald eyes. The crop top was worn off her left shoulder so that her creamy white skin showed.

Sakura grinned at her reflection in the mirror. "I won't let that idiot of a fool Sasuke ruin this day. I'm going to go out and enjoy this beautiful day instead of sulking about him stealing my first kiss," Sakura said confidently.

Sakura sighed. "Who am I kidding? I rather sulk and mope around."

She frowned and shook her head. "No! Must get these thoughts out of my head!"

Sakura gave a nod as if she were agreeing with herself. She began to brush her hair when a burning smell reached her nose. Sakura gasped as she dropped her brush. "The pancakes!"

Sakura rushed out of her bedroom and into the small kitchen. She turned off the stove and peered down at the pancakes. They were slightly burned on the edges but other than that, they looked edible to eat. Sakura poked at the pancakes with a fork and eyed it warily. She broke off a small piece and held it up with her fork and looked at it closely as she examined the piece of pancake. Slowly, she bit into it and chewed it thoughtfully. Satisfied with it, she placed the pancakes on a plate and drizzled maple syrup on top.

After breakfast, Sakura glanced at her watch and saw that it was near 10 am. _I should go to the club. I left my guitar there, _she thought. Sakura grabbed her keys and slipped into a pair of flip-flops. She left her apartment and ran down to the club which was a couple of blocks away from her apartment.

Sakura panted as she paused in front of the nightclub. She had realized today that running in flip flops was not a good idea. Sakura pushed the doors of the club opened and stepped into the dimmed club.

"Jiraiya-sama? Tsunade-sama? Anko?" she called out.

A white-haired man stepped out from behind the curtains and onto the stage. "Sakura!" he called out happily as he jumped off the stage and came running at Sakura. The pink-haired girl shrieked as Jiraiya grabbed her in a giant bear hug.

"J-jiraya-sama," Sakura choked out. "Y-you're k-killing m-me."

Jiraiya let Sakura go. "Oh, sorry."

Sakura took a big breath of air. Then she pounded her fist onto Jiraiya's head. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" she yelled. "Are you trying to kill me this early in the morning!"

Jiraiya whimpered, "B-but Sakura…"

"He's just trying to find the best way to tell you what an idiot he is," Tsunade said as she walked up from behind Jiraiya.

"Tsunade-sama?" Sakura said.

Tsunade sighed. "Did Jiraiya tell you about your day off?"

"Day off? What day off?" Sakura questioned.

Tsunade sighed. "Jiraiya…" Tsunade said with a warning tone.

Jiraiya grinned sheepishly. "Well, you see… ah… everyone has a day off today… and I didn't get a chance to tell you… Sakura."

Sakura switched her gaze from Tsunade to Jiraiya. "So you're telling me that I woke up early today just so that I can come to work when there was actually no work today," Sakura stated coolly.

Jiraiya scratched his chin. "That about sums it up," he said thoughtfully.

"WRONG ANSWER!" Sakura shouted. "You idiot!" she yelled as she gave Jiraiya several bumps on the head.

Jiraiya ran away before Sakura could give him anymore leaving a very pissed off lady and a distraught blonde woman.

"That idiot," the two women said in unison.

Sakura calmed down and slumped down on her chair. Tsunade sat down in the seat next to Sakura. "I'm sorry you had to wake up so early on a weekend. I should have known I couldn't trust Jiraiya to do anything right."

Sakura sighed. "It's alright. I don't get much sleep anyways with schoolwork and late nights at the club."

Tsunade smiled at the girl. "But you still manage to look beautiful in that outfit."

Sakura smiled. "Thanks."

Tsunade grinned. The blonde woman got up from the seat and pulled Sakura up. "Alright, a girl like you should be out in the sun and enjoying yourself instead of being cooped up in here."

"B-but-"

Tsunade wagged her finger at Sakura. "No buts. Go and enjoy your day off." Tsunade gave Sakura a small push out the door and closed the it behind the pink-headed girl.

"But I need to get my guitar," Sakura said to the closed door. She sighed as she stared at the concrete ground of the sidewalk.

"Sakura?" a voice called out.

Sakura looked up immediately from the ground. Her jade green eyes darted to the left and then to the right as she searched for the person who called for her.

A tap came at her shoulder which made Sakura jumped a little as she turned around.

A dark-haired man stood before her with a wide grin spread across his face. "Idate-san !" Sakura called out in surprise.

Idate tilted his head. "Just call me Idate."

Sakura grinned. "Okay, _Idate, _so what are you doing here?"

Idate scratched his head. "Same reason you are here?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. Idate smiled and grabbed Sakura by the wrist. "How about you accompany me today since we both have a day off?"

"But-"

"But what?" Idate asked. "You need to get out more and enjoy life while you're still young."

Sakura narrowed her eyebrows. "Are you implying that I'm getting old?"

Idate grinned. "Well, you're only sixteen once. Besides, I need someone beautiful to make all the guys jealous."

Sakura groaned. "You're not going to stop until I agree are you?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"...fine..."

* * *

The wind blew against Sakura's rosy colored hair which she had just tied up in a messy bun. Sakura was trying to keep up with Idate who was pulling on her arm as they weaved their way through the crowds on the streets.

"IDATE!" Sakura shouted as she tried to get the man in front of her to slow down. "I can't keep up. Not with these stupid flip flops on me."

Idate paused and Sakura collided into him. Sakura swayed as she tried to catch her balance. She frowned. "Okay, tell me next time when you decide to stop in the middle of the streets without any warning."

Idate smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

Sakura rubbed her foot. "My feet are killing me. We have probably walked the entire city and back."

Idate crouched down as he offered her back to the pink-headed girl. Sakura stared at him like he was crazy or something. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Offering to carry you," Idate said with a smile.

Sakura shook her head fiercely. "No! I can't let you-"

Her protests were stopped when Idate lifted her up on his back. "Hey! Hey, put me down!"

Idate stood up with Sakura on his back. He looked at her from the corner of his eye. "Why? You're tired aren't you?"

Sakura protested again, "This is embarrassing."

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is," Sakura argued. "People are going to stare."

"No they aren't. No one is even looking at us."

"Yes they are." Sakura stuck her head out so that she could see Idate's face. "Their eyes are watching us!"

Idate laughed. "Then let them watch," he said as he began to walk.

"I hate you," Sakura said in a dull voice.

Idate grinned. "I like you too."

Sakura wrapped her arms tighter around Idate's neck so that she wouldn't fall.

"You are definitely getting a lump of coal from me this Christmas."

"Make sure it's wrapped properly," Idate said with a smile.

Sakura stuck her tongue out at him.

"So, how is everything at your new school?" Idate asked as he changed the subject.

Sakura looked up at the clear blue skies. "It's okay."

"Find any friends?"

An image of Naruto popped into Sakura's head. She smiled. "Yea, I did," she said softly. Suddenly, an image of Sasuke came into her head. "Sasuke," Sakura growled.

"Who's he? Your boyfriend?" Idate asked.

Sakura scoffed. "As if."

"I take it you don't like him very much."

"Doesn't take a genius to figure that out," Sakura said sarcastically.

Idate laughed. "That bad, huh?"

Sakura nodded. The sixteen-year-old sighed as she glanced at the store windows. As they were walking past the stores, a certain item on display in a small shop caught Sakura's eye. Sakura motioned for Idate to put her down and he did. Sakura ran up to the store window and pressed her hands against the clear glass window as she peered at the item. Idate walked up behind her and looked also. "What are we looking at?" he asked as his eyes searched the whole display for the item that Sakura was intensely gazing at.

Sakura said nothing but she pointed. Idate followed the path of her finger and his eyes landed on a pendant in the shape of a cherry blossom. The pendant has five petals that gleamed in the afternoon sunlight and in the center was set a clear diamond stone that seemed to shine in the colors of the rainbow. It hung on a silver chain which had a tiny silver clasp. Idate then whistled low when he saw the price tag that was placed next to the necklace.

"That is one expensive-" Idate began but stopped when he noticed that Sakura was missing. Idate looked all around him but no signs of the pink-headed girl showed. That was when he saw her inside the store through the glass window. Idate smiled in amusement. "That girl…" he said with a low chuckle as he pushed open the door that lead inside to the small shop.

Wind chimes sounded as Idate walked in and the tinkling sound filled the small shop. Sakura was talking to the store owner and then pointing to the display case where the pendant laid.

Idate walked up to Sakura. "You're not seriously thinking of buying that necklace are you?" he asked as he scratched his head.

Sakura looked at him as if she just noticed that he walked in. "I'm not sure," she said softly. She turned back to the store owner who began to take out a set of keys and then went to the display case where he unlocked it. The store owner then took out the necklace and handed it to Sakura.

Sakura clutched onto the necklace as the cool touch of the pendant touched against her skin. She began to trace the outline of the diamond that was in the center of the pendant and her skin tingle when she felt the coolness of the jewel. Quickly, Sakura flipped the pendant over so that she was looking at the back. There, engraved in small but neat letters, was her name. "Sa-ku-ra," she read out loud to herself as she enunciated each syllable clearly. "This is it," she murmured.

"Is what?" Idate asked.

"My necklace," Sakura answered in a faraway voice.

"Yours?" Idate questioned.

Sakura nodded. "Yes. The pendant that my mother gave me for my sixteenth birthday. I thought I lost it when I moved out of my old house but it looked like it turned up in this store." She gazed fondly at the pendant which laid in the palm of her hand. Sakura turned to the store owner. "How much is this?" she demanded urgently.

"¥3000," the store owner said. Sakura's mouth dropped open. Sakura searched through her pants pockets and came up with some crumpled bills and coins. She dumped them all on top of the counter by the register as she counted up the amount.

"¥2000," Sakura said in frustration as she counted up the last coin. "¥1000 short," she said sadly. Sakura looked back at the pendant in her hand and stared at it sadly. A hand slammed against the counter and Sakura jumped up in surprise. Idate had placed ¥3000 on the counter next to Sakura's pile of money.

"Idate…" Sakura whispered softly.

Idate looked at Sakura and grinned. "It's from your late mother isn't it?"

Sakura nodded as she clutched tighter to the necklace.

"Then don't worry about paying me back. Consider it a gift." Idate picked up Sakura's money and handed it to Sakura.

"W-wait," Sakura protested. "You don't have to pay for the whole thing! I can pay for the rest-"

Idate stopped Sakura's protests when he held his finger up to Sakura's mouth as he pressed gently against her lips. "Don't be silly. You shouldn't miss out on paying rent."

Sakura shook her head and waved Idate's finger away. "I will be able to pay the rent and even pay you back if I put in some extra hours at the club and-"

Idate shook his head. "I won't let you do that." Idate placed the money in Sakura's free hand and closed her fingers over the money. His own hands were wrapped around Sakura's tightened fist.

"You push yourself too hard. You shouldn't even be more concern about work and rent and be more focus on your goals," Idate said as he gazed into Sakura's eyes.

Sakura closed her eyes. "My goals?"

"To complete school and-"

"-become a singer," Sakura finished with Idate.

Sakura opened her eyes. "That's right. I need to finish up my education before thinking of becoming somebody famous."

"That's what your mother said to you, right?"

Sakura nodded. "Right," she said. Sakura smiled but then her smile turn into a frown. "But I still can't let you pay."

"It's not me paying. It's my grandfather's money," Idate responded.

The store owner stood in front of the register and looked at the two teenagers. "So, will you be buying this necklace?" she asked.

Sakura looked at Idate and he smiled at her. Sakura smiled back and then nodded at the store owner in response to the question. The store owner took the cash and rang up the register and then handed a small receipt to Idate.

Idate thanked the store owner and followed Sakura out the store. Once outside, Idate turned to Sakura. "Do you need help putting it on?" he asked.

Sakura nodded and handed the necklace to Idate. He took it and Sakura turned around so that her back was to him. Idate unclasped the necklace and lifted it above Sakura's head and then brought it back down until it was around Sakura's neckline. He fumbled with the clasp as he tried to re-clasp it. When he finally heard the click sound, he brought his hands back down to his side.

"Thank you," Sakura said softly.

"You're welcome," Idate said in response. "Even though it took me so long to clasp it back on."

"No, I meant _thank you. _As in thank you for all that you done for me."

Sakura clutched at the necklace. "Because of you, I was able to forget."

Idate looked up at the sky. "Forget?" he echoed. "I don't think there was ever a day when you have forgotten."

Sakura remained quiet. Her green eyes wandered away from Idate and she stared at the view of the blue waves of the ocean.

"The beach," she whispered.

Idate looked in confusion at Sakura. "Huh?"

Sakura pointed and smiled. "The ocean is just over there."

Idate looked to where Sakura was pointing at. "You're right. We must be near the ocean right now."

"Let's go," Sakura said.

"Right now?"

Sakura said nothing and began walking quickly. _It's as if Mom is right here beside me guiding me to her._

Sakura slowed down her steps as she neared the beach. Sakura slipped out of her flip flops and began to carry them in one hand as she stood in front of the ocean waves that were coming in. Sakura inhale the ocean smell as she watched seagulls fly above her head and making bird calls. The sun was beginning to set over the horizon and Sakura smiled as she got lost in thought while staring out into the ocean.

* * *

___Eight-year-old Sakura squatted down as she patted her hands on the sand. She dug her hands into the wet sand as she searched for a smooth surface of a shell. Sakura's small hands came across a pink shell and she pulled it out in delight as she marveled over the pretty color that matched her hair. _

"_Mommy!" she called out as she waved the shell in the air so that her mother can see. Sakura's mother walked towards Sakura with a big smile on her face. Sakura's mother crouched down beside the small little girl as they stared at the exquisite beauty of the shell. _

_Sakura giggled as she placed the shell along with the other pretty shells that she found earlier. Sakura felt blissful as she sat there in the sand with her mother as they watched the sun go down and sink beneath the ocean. Sakura's eyes began to feel tired as she stifled a yawn. She looked up at her mom once more before falling asleep. _

* * *

Sakura broke away her concentration at the ocean and looked down at the sand below her feet. A flash of pink caught her eye as she bent down and brushed the sand to the side to reveal a beautiful pink shell. Sakura gently lifted up the shell and examined the whole shell.

_It looks exactly like the shell I found eight years ago, _Sakura mused.

Sakura gave a small laugh. "I wish you could be here with me right now, Mom," Sakura said wistfully as she clutched the shell in her hand gently. "I wish you could be here with me everyday..."

Idate walked up behind Sakura and crouched down next to her. "That's a beautiful shell."

Sakura only nodded in agreement. "Yes it is."

Idate looked out at the sunset. "It's getting to be almost dinner time. The sky will turn dark soon. We should go home before it gets too late."

Sakura looked up from the shell and at the sunset. "So soon?" she murmured. "Let's at least take a walk on the beach."

Idate sighed. "Alright." He stood up and helped Sakura to her feet. Sakura bent down to pick up her flip flops as she carried it in one hand and the pink shell in her other hand. They began walking alongside the ocean as Sakura lazily swung her arms around.

It was silent as the two teenagers walked quietly on the beach. Suddenly, Sakura's stomach gave a loud growl. Sakura quickly shielded her stomach in embarrassment and Idate laughed. But, Idate's stomach soon gave a growl and his face turned a slight red.

"Looks like we are both starving," Sakura joked.

"Well, all we had was a burger for lunch," Idate commented.

Sakura nodded. A pleasant aroma reached her nose and Sakura sniffed the air. "Do you smell that?" she asked Idate.

Idate groaned. "Sakura, I'm already starving. Don't try to make me even more hungry by telling me you smell a pleasant aroma of hot dogs being cooked and…"

Sakura looked up ahead and noticed a large bonfire in the distance. "This isn't a dream. Looks like there is a cookout and we are smelling hot dogs and all the other food they are cooking," Sakura said excitedly.

Sakura rushed ahead to see what was happening ahead. Idate groaned. "You don't think they will give us free food, do you?" he asked but Sakura was already too far away to hear.

Sakura slowed down her steps when a clear view of the bonfire came up. She could see a big crowd gathered around the fire and dancing to music provided by a DJ. Idate came up behind Sakura.

"Looks like a party is going on," Idate remarked.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, seems so."

The two walked down the slight slope of the beach and came nearer to the party going on. Sakura squinted her eyes. She seemed to recognize some faces but she couldn't clearly put her finger on it.

Sakura walked among the crowds of people as she stared at the plates of food everyone was holding. She must have been off in a daze because she walked right into someone. Sakura rubbed her head where a bump was beginning to form as she looked up to the guy she bumped into.

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed.

Naruto tilted his head to the side. "Sakura, what are you doing here?"

"I was just going to ask you the same thing."

Naruto grinned. "Well, I'm so glad you're here," he shouted in a gleeful voice as he grabbed Sakura in a tight bear hug. "I tried to call you at home but no one answered."

"Yeah, I was out the whole day." Sakura said. She looked up from Naruto's shoulders and her jade green eyes met with a familiar dark onyx eyes. Sakura narrowed her eyes when she saw Sasuke standing behind Naruto. Sakura wanted to scream out at him and torture him for stealing her first kiss but then realized that she was still suffocating from Naruto's tight hug.

Finally, Naruto released Sakura and the pink-headed girl took what seemed to be her first breath of life. Sasuke began to walk over and stood beside Naruto. Idate gave a small frown and walked up protectively behind Sakura.

Sakura glared at Sasuke. Flashbacks of the horrendous kiss flashed in Sakura's mind as shivers went up and down her spine. Sakura gritted her teeth and clenched her hands into fists.

_Uchiha Sasuke. I shall make you pay._


	8. Beach Party

**Song of a Cherry Blossom  
**by Diana-san

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Sasuke smirked as he stood towering over Sakura. Sakura glared defiantly back up at him.

"What are you doing here at my party?" Sasuke asked. "_Pinky?_" he added as he stretched out the word. This caused Sakura's shoulders to hunch up even more as her eyes became what seem to be able to turn man to stone. Especially men like Sasuke.

"Who would want to go to your party?" Sakura spat out in anger.

Sasuke thought for a moment. "Uh, everyone?" he responded as he gestured to the crowd. "The whole school was invited." Sasuke frowned as he tapped his head. "I guess your invite was left out."

Sakura scowled. "Gee, what a pity. Who knew what could have happened if I received it?" Sakura said sarcastically. Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, she stared right into Sasuke's eyes as if her eyes were doing all the talk.

"But you don't have to worry about me crashing your party because me and Idate are LEAVING," Sakura said coolly as she stressed out the word 'leaving'. "Isn't that right, Idate?" Sakura asked as she turned her head to Idate for support. What Sakura didn't expect was that Idate was nowhere in sight. Sakura turned around and searched for any signs of Idate. "Idate? IDATE?" Sakura called out into the crowd.

Sasuke smirked. "Looks like your friend is enjoying the party," he commented as he walked up behind Sakura and lowered his head to Sakura's height. Sasuke extended a finger out and pointed out Idate in the crowd.

Sakura followed Sasuke's finger and immediately found Idate in the crowd. Idate waved to Sakura and grinned. "The food here is AWESOME. You should come over!" Idate shouted to Sakura from within the masses of people.

The cherry blossom groaned as she buried her face in her hands in pure embarrassment. _You sold me out Idate. How could you wander over to their side and still be oblivious to the fact that you did it?_

Sasuke stood up straight and smirked. "So what were you saying again?"

Sakura lifted her head up and dropped her hands to her side. She took a few small breaths and plastered a fake smile on her face before turning around and facing Sasuke.

Sakura gave Sasuke a sweet smile and then turned her smile into a scowl. "So what if your party took over my friend to your evil little side? I still won't be convinced to agree to anything you do including these… these…" Sakura looked around her and waved her hands at the scene in front of her. "…these superficial parties full of fake and self-obsessed kids!" Sakura finished.

Sasuke gave a pretend hurt look. "Ouch!" he exclaimed dramatically. "That hurts."

Sakura glared at him. Sasuke draped his arm around Sakura and grinned down at her. Sakura eyed his arm and then eyed up at Sasuke's taunting face. "What?" Sakura asked flatly.

Sasuke sighed. "If you really want to stay then you can stay if you want. It's not like I can't afford to serve you food and entertainment."

Sakura blinked once and then twice and then a couple of times more. She shook her head as if to clear her head and maybe her senses. She tapped her ears a few times to make sure she was hearing correctly. "Excuse me?" Sakura questioned. Sakura gave a half-hearted laugh. "Are you saying that I actually WANT to come to your party?"

"Well, you are here already aren't you?" Sasuke commented.

Sakura was at a loss for words. "B-bu-but. I mean… WAIT!" Sakura pushed Sasuke's arm away from her and ran a few feet away to distance herself form Sasuke. Sakura extended an arm out as if to shield herself. "Okay," Sakura began. "Did you like hear a word I just said earlier? I said I wouldn't come even if you _had_ invited me."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Women like you sure are hard to figure out."

Sakura gave a small frown. "What do you mean women like me? I will have you know that women like me are just as-"

Sasuke walked up to Sakura and placed a finger on Sakura's lips to silence her. "Shh," Sasuke said softly. "I don't want any of your long and boring lectures when it's supposed to be a Saturday night." Sasuke looked down at Sakura and gestured towards her stomach with his free hand. "It's a bit past the dinner hour so you probably haven't eaten anything. I'm sure that you are hungry-"

Sakura pushed Sasuke's finger away and retorted, "I'm NOT hungry. In fact, I'm perfectly content and-"

Sakura was interrupted when her stomach gave out a loud growl. Sakura blushed a faint pink and clutched her stomach with a grimace. Sasuke laughed. "Your stomach sure speaks differently from what your mouth says."

Sakura glared at her stomach and cursed silently. _Damn you. Betrayed by my own hunger. Forget the fact that I planned to do fifty sit ups for you._

Naruto stepped up. "C'mon Sakura-chan. Have some fun. You can eat all the free food you want and it's all out of Sasuke's pocket!"

Sasuke gave Naruto a glare. "Dobe, you're better off with your mouth shut."

"Hey, don't you want her to stay?" Naruto asked.

"I could care less," Sasuke said before leaving and getting mixed in with the crowd.

Naruto sighed. "Don't worry about him. He's just being his usual grouchy self," Naruto explained to Sakura.

Sakura scoffed. "Worried? Who said I was worried?"

Naruto blinked. "Okay, then never mind."

Sakura grinned as she rolled up what is suppose to be her sleeves. "Okay! I'm going to go all out and eat that Uchiha out of all his money and then I'll make him come crying to me when he's all broke and out of money."

Sakura grinned mischievously at her brilliant evil plan while Naruto stared blankly at the pink-haired girl. "Uhh, Sakura-chan. Are you feeling alright?"

Sakura's eyes fired up. "I'll show him! Show me to the food table," she demanded.

Naruto pointed to the long banquet style table that was off to one side of the large crowd. Sakura walked over and stood at one end of the long table. Her mouth dropped open as she gaped at the scene before her. There were over thirty dishes of different kinds of food lined up one next to the other. A miniature sized fountain was placed in the center of the long buffet table. The fountain had three layers to it and each layer had a different kind of drink. Large trays of barbeque chicken were placed in the center and the shiny sheen of the barbeque sauce glistened from the lights of the Japanese lanterns hung overhead which gave the whole area a homey feeling to it. Five different kinds of pizzas were in rotating trays and they sat next to the liters of soda and apple cider.

Sakura was astonished as she stared at all the wonderful food. Her stomach growled as her mouth drooled. "Wow," she breathed. "You guys actually EAT normal food."

Naruto laughed. "What did you expect? That we will serve caviar with little square crackers."

Sakura darted a quick glance at Naruto before turning away. "O-of course not," she murmured. _Actually, yes I was thinking that, _Sakura thought to herself.

Sakura groaned. "I won't be able to finish all this food by myself."

"You wouldn't be able to finish it even if it was just one pizza being served," Naruto remarked.

Sakura stuck her tongue out. "Oh, just you watch. If my plan is to succeed then I need to eat until I can eat no more."

Naruto sighed. "If you're going to do something then at least make it realistic," Naruto replied but Sakura was already out of ear-shot.

Sakura hummed as she grabbed the top plate from a stack of silver plates. She frowned in disgust. _What's wrong with just using paper plates? _Sakura stood in front of the first tray and began dumping all kinds of food onto her plate. She worked her way down the long buffet style table until her plate was piled up so high that it started to get heavy. The pink-headed teenager took a fork and glanced at her plate. _This is going to take awhile… _Sakura thought with a sigh.

_Ten minutes later…_

Sakura groaned. The plate she was holding was barely even one-fourth done and it looked exactly the same as when she first got it.

_Another ten minutes later…_

Sakura leaned against the chair she was now sitting in with the plate sitting in the chair next to her. Sakura let her head fall back so that she was watching everything upside down.

_Twenty minutes later…_

Sakura slid off the chair and slumped against the legs of the chair while with the fork stuck dangling in her mouth as she held onto it with a lazy grip. The plate of food still sat in the chair next to Sakura looking like it hasn't been eaten from even though Sakura spent twenty minutes eating the top layer of the layer of food.

_Five minutes later…_

Naruto walked over to Sakura and bent down. Sakura was now slumped down on the sand with the fork stuck in the sand. Naruto gave Sakura a gentle poke and Sakura rolled over with a groan. "No more food," she moaned with her eyes closed.

Naruto laughed. "Not even dessert?"

Sakura sat up immediately. "Dessert?" Sakura said excitedly. Sakura jumped up to her feet and ran over to the dessert table. Her jade eyes sparkled as she looked over at the display of cakes, cookies, and sweets. "All of them look so good," she murmured to herself. She grabbed the small dessert plate and then examined it for a second before putting it down. Then she went over to get a regular dinner plate and carried it back to the dessert table. Sakura carefully examined each dessert that was laid out before her. "Lemon cake, strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, ice cream…" Sakura silently counted off in her head. "So many to choose from," Sakura said wistfully as she rested the rim of the plate on the edge of her chin. "How to decide…"

"Why don't you just get a little bit of each?" a deep voice said.

Sakura gave a small jump in surprise as she turned around. "Y-y-you're _that _guy."

The stoic white-eyed man frowned. "_That_ guy? Is that how you remember me?"

Sakura's eyes widened. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to be so rude like that," Sakura said quickly as she gave a bow.

Sakura heard a light giggle and she frowned. _He doesn't have to laugh at me like that. Wait a minute, did he just giggle?_

Sakura raised her head to find herself face to face with a girl peering at her face. Sakura jumped back in surprise and couldn't help but gawking. "You were a guy a moment ago weren't you?"

The girl laughed as she stood back. "I always knew there was something about you that made you different from all the other girls," she remarked. She gave out a hand to help Sakura up who was sitting on the ground with a shocked expression on her face.

"I'm Tenten," the chocolate-haired introduced herself. "And…this is my boyfriend, Neji," Tenten went on to say as she pulled the white-eyed man from behind her. Neji gave a brief nod and turned his head.

Sakura glanced away from Neji to Tenten. "Uhh, I'm Sakura, I guess," Sakura mumbled. Sakura was still a bit confuse at what is happening.

Tenten smiled. "You were the one who served us drinks, weren't you?"

Sakura scratched her head. "Well, I gues-"

Tenten interrupted, "I've been wanting to meet you! You have spunk and I like that. Keep it up!"

Sakura blinked. "Thanks…I think."

Tenten smiled. "I'm a year older than you but I hope we can be good friends. You know, I can show you how you can really irritate Sasuke. Did you know-?"

Neji interrupted, "Tenten, I don't think you should be trying to use Haruno-san to make Uchiha's life a living hell."

Tenten gave a pout. "But I still need to get back at him for all that stuff that he did."

Neji sighed. Sakura gave a blank look. "Settle scores? What do you have against Sasuke?" Sakura asked Tenten.

Tenten explained, "Ever since childhood, Sasuke and I would play pranks on each other and right now he's leading by 108 wins and 107 losses. One more loss and we'll be even.

Neji sighed and crossed his arms. "Tenten, you will be graduating this year so maybe you should just let it g-"

"NO! Don't say it! I can't let it go! I will make that boy suffer a million times worse than what he did to me 108 wins ago," Tenten exclaimed loudly.

Sakura was tempted to ask what happened 108 wins ago but seeing the look on Tenten's face changed her mind. Sakura picked up her plate of desserts and indicated that she was going to go.

"Ok, I think I'll just go over there and eat my desser-"

"WAIT!" Tenten called out as she placed her hand on Sakura's shoulder to stop her. "Why don't you dance with Neji?"

"WHAT?" both Neji and Sakura exclaimed.

Tenten smiled. "Go on, you two should dance. It's no fun to just eat at a party."

"O-oh, b-b-but, I'm really just here for the food. I'm not much up for dancing right now," Sakura said quickly.

Tenten grabbed both Neji and Sakura by the hands. "C'mon you two. Go and dance."

Tenten whispered in Neji's ear. "And try to get her near Sasuke when I give you the signal."

"The signal? What signal?" Neji whispered back.

"You'll know soon enough. Just do what you have to do," Tenten whispered before going away.

Neji cursed to himself silently. _How did I get myself into this mess? _he thought grimly.

Sakura rocked back and forth as she swayed silently by herself. Neji sighed as he walked over to Sakura. He extended out an arm to Sakura. "Will you dance with me?"

"Do I have a choice?" Sakura questioned.

"No."

"Then okay," Sakura responded as she linked arms with Neji. "One dance with you can't hurt."

A slow song came on and Sakura awkwardly placed her hands on top of Neji's shoulders. Neji kept a safe distance away from the pink-headed girl as he glanced over at Tenten. Tenten smiled and waved back and pointed over to Sasuke who was with Ino. Neji sighed as he guided Sakura a little bit over to the left and closer to Sasuke. Sakura stiffly followed Neji's lead but wondered what kind of dance he was trying to do.

_He seems more like pulling me over than dancing. Poor Tenten. She has danced like this every time she's with Neji, _Sakura thought to herself as she got half-dragged along in the somewhat dance. Sakura felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see a guy behind her. He had dark wavy locks of hair that covered part of his eyes and when he smiled, dimples were revealed.

"May I cut in?" he asked.

Sakura glanced at Neji who didn't seem to be too pleased. _This is my chance to get away, _Sakura thought. She tiptoed up to Neji's ear and whispered, "I think you should go dance with Tenten. She seems a bit lonely."

Sakura flashed a quick smile at Neji before completely detaching herself from Neji's side. The pink-headed girl took the dark-haired man's hand and disappeared into the crowd. Neji gave a grim frown. "Tenten's going to kill me for this," he muttered.

* * *

Sakura poured a cup of punch as she drank thirstily out of it. Dancing had made her thirsty and it took her forever to get through the crowd to get to the drinks table. Sakura turned around to surveyed the whole party. Many of the girls wore lavish dresses like they were attending homecoming instead of a party on the beach. She made a face. _Geez. Do they have to flaunt their riches on a public beach? It's bad enough they do it at school, but on a beach?_

Sakura glanced at some guys. Most of them were dressed pretty casually but some were dressed a bit more formally.

Sakura sighed as she looked at the scene in front of her. "A girl like me just doesn't fit in," she said absentmindedly.

"You're right," a voice said from behind Sakura.

Sakura whirled around. She made a disgusted face when she saw who it was. "Oh, it's you."

Sasuke smirked. "How come you don't sound happier to see me?"

Sakura thought for a moment. "I don't know. Maybe because I'm _not_?"

The cherry blossom grabbed her drink. "Now if you will excuse me-"

Before Sakura could finish her sentence, the DJ started to speak into the microphone.

"ALRIGHT YOU PARTY-GOERS! WE'RE GOING TO MIX IT UP A LITTLE RIGHT NOW. THIS IS HOW IT WORKS. EVERYONE HAS TO PICK OUT A CRAYON COLOR FROM ONE OF THE BOXES THAT TENTEN AND NEJI ARE HOLDING. THERE ARE TWO SETS OF CRAYONS AND THE GIRLS WILL PICK ONE OUT FROM TENTEN'S BOX AND THE GUYS FROM NEJI'S. HOW THIS WORKS IS THAT THERE IS ONE CRAYON THAT WILL MATCH YOUR OWN CRAYON AND WHOEVER THAT PERSON IS WILL BE THE PERSON YOU HAVE TO DANCE WITH FOR THE LAST SLOW SONG OF THE NIGHT."

The DJ stepped down from the mike and the crowd began to talk excitedly.

"Oh my gosh. I hope I get the same color crayon as Sasuke-kun. Kyaa!"

"No fair. I want Sasuke's!"

"I hope I get to dance with Neji!"

Sakura sighed. _This could get ugly, _Sakura mused with a laugh. Sakura stole a glance at Sasuke who was staring off into the distance. Sakura smirked. "This party is going to get interesting."

Sakura started to turn away from the crowd when someone stuck a box of crayons in front of her face. Sakura stared at it for a few seconds before looking up. Sakura's emotionless face met with Tenten's bright smile. Tenten grinned as she inched the crayon box closer to Sakura's face.

"No," Sakura flatly stated.

Tenten frowned and moved the box of crayons closer to Sakura. The cherry blossom shook her head but Tenten remained persistent. The brown-headed girl took out a single crayon from the box and slapped it on the palm of Sakura's hand.

Tenten rushed off before Sakura could protest. Sakura glanced at the crayon in her hand.

"Macaroni," Sakura read off the crayon label. "What are they doing to crayons these days?" she grumbled.

Sakura turned to Sasuke. "What did you get?"

Sasuke arched his eyebrow. "Do you care?"

"No," Sakura replied flatly.

A screeching sound from the microphone made Sakura winced as the whole crowd turned to see what was going on. Tenten grinned as she waved to the crowd. "Okay everyone! All the crayons have been passed out and now you will have to find the partner whose crayon matches yours. There's no switching or anything and you MUST dance with whoever you get. Take it as a match made in heaven."

People began to move around as they tried to find their dance partner. Sakura groaned. "How is anyone going to find who they are looking for like this?"

Someone gave a tap to Sakura's shoulder and she turned around to find Tenten smiling at her. "You!" Sakura cried out. The cherry blossom grabbed Tenten's wrist and dragged her out of the cramped up crowd.

"Okay, you got me into this mess so you have to get me out of it."

Tenten's eyes widened. "What did I do?" she asked innocently.

Sakura raised an eyebrow and held up the macaroni crayon up to Tenten's face. "You see this? You gave me this!" Sakura said as she waved the crayon around. "And now you can take it back and pretend that I never touched this crayon in my life so I can get out of here instead of dancing with whoever you try to set me up with."

Tenten placed her hands on her hips and frowned. "Now why would I do that?"

Sakura arched her eyebrow at the girl. "Because I'll be leaving right now."

Sakura held the crayon out and offered it for Tenten to take it.

Before Tenten could, a voice called out Tenten's name. The two girls looked over to see Sasuke jogging over. Tenten's eyes brightened up when she saw Sasuke.

"Hey Tenten, this little game of yours is driving me crazy. I can't even find the girl I'm suppose to be dancing with," Sasuke said.

Tenten smiled. "That's because… she's RIGHT HERE!" Tenten exclaimed as she dragged Sasuke over to Sakura.

Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other until a look of realization came upon their shocked faces.

"No!" the two of them both exclaimed.

"YES!" Tenten said happily. "Okay, have fun you two," Tenten said as she disappeared into the crowd.

Sakura stared at the back of Tenten's retreating back in shock. The pink-haired girl then looked over to Sasuke in shock.

"Of all the people," Sasuke grumbled.

Sakura glared at him. "What did you say?"

Sasuke scoffed. "I said of all the people, I had to get the FOREHEAD GIRL."

The cherry blossom gave Sasuke glaring daggers with her eyes. Sasuke snickered as he waited for Sakura to respond. When no response came, Sasuke waved a hand in front of Sakura's face. Sakura looked at Sasuke with her jade green eyes and Sasuke stopped waving as he dropped his hand against his side.

Sakura turned around and walked away leaving Sasuke standing there watching her retreating figure. Sasuke sighed as he followed the cherry blossom.

Sakura stopped walking as she got farther away from the loud noises and music of the party. Sakura sighed as she stared at the waves washing up the shore.

_What's gotten into me? He said one insult to me and reduced me to this._

Sakura gave a small laugh to herself. _Oh that's right. Mom and Dad would always tease me with that name. _

The petal-haired girl crouched down on her knees as she sifted through the sand with her hands. She watched the sand fall in between her fingers as she rocked back and forth on her feet.

"You're so stupid," Sakura scolded herself quietly. "Getting upset over nothing."

_After all, that was so long ago. And that idiot Sasuke has been called me that name before. _

Sakura threw a handful of sand at the waves in frustration. Sakura sat down in the sand and was about to lie down on the sandy beach when a object stopped her back from going down any further. Sakura looked up to see Sasuke towering above her.

"What do you want?" Sakura said in annoyance.

_You seemed depressed so I followed you, _Sasuke thought. "I was seeing what the little pig was doing out here all by herself," he said in response.

Sakura gave a glare at him and turned her head away. Sasuke sat down beside Sakura. "Are you still angry at me because I called you forehead girl?"

Sakura's figure stiffened. "No," she replied stubbornly. "I'm not mad," she replied coolly.

Sasuke laughed. "That's true. If you were mad, then you would have shouted your head off at me and called me a chauvinistic pig."

The cherry blossom turned and looked at Sasuke. "Stop acting like you know me so well."

Sasuke stared at the calmness of the ocean. "But isn't it true? You're not really hard to figure out."

Sakura crossed her arms. "You don't know me. No one really truly knows me."

"Fine, fine. No one knows you. How can anyone understand a poor girl like you?"

Sakura restraint herself from hitting the Uchiha hard in the head. "Hey!" she warned. "Watch yourself. I already stopped from being mad at you so don't try to make me mad again."

Sasuke shrugged. "I thought you weren't mad."

"What do you mean I wasn't mad? Of course I was mad! You-" Sakura paused. "You tricked me!"

"What? I didn't do anything. You said it yourself," Sasuke said in defense. "You were-"

He was interrupted as a splash of cold water doused his face. Sasuke slowly wiped off the water away from his eyes as he stood up.

Sakura laughed as she stood in the cold waters of the ocean. "You're right. I was mad but now I feel a lot better after doing that."

Sasuke smiled. "Oh, do you now?" he asked with a mischievous smile.

Sakura gulped as Sasuke came closer to her. Sakura stepped back into the cold icy water of the ocean as Sasuke neared her. She stuck her arm out to distance herself from the approaching Uchiha and waved it frantically as she shut her eyes tight.

"Don't try anything or I'll hurt you!" she threatened.

Sakura could hear Sasuke snicker. "Yeah, I like to see you try."

The sixteen-year-old girl opened her eyes and glared at Sasuke. "What? You don't believe that I can easily-"

Sakura's sentence was never finished as she took a last step back and started to fall. Sasuke reached out to try to catch Sakura by the arm but his efforts were useless as he took hold of Sakura's hand and fell into the cold waters with her. Sasuke stuck his head out from under the waters as he gasped for air while pulling Sakura up. The petal-haired girl spit out water and coughed as she wiped the water away from her eyes.

Sasuke groaned. "Man, this was a new shirt too," he grumbled.

Sakura sneezed. "Send it out for dry cleaning," she responded monotonously.

The Uchiha gave a sarcastic laugh in response. Sakura sneezed once again as she shivered in the icy cold waters.

Sasuke sighed. "C'mon. We're going to catch colds if we stay in here too long."

Sakura nodded but was numb to move. Her eyes started to close slowly as her head bobbed in and out of the water. Sasuke grabbed the cold girl by the shoulders and shook her gently. When Sakura showed no reaction, Sasuke quickly carried her out of the water.

Sasuke laid Sakura gently against the sandy surface of the beach. Sakura moaned as she rolled over to one side. The perplexed Uchiha placed his hand on Sakura's forehead and compared temperatures with his own.

"You're burning up."

Sakura only moaned in response.

With a sigh, the ebony-haired teenager picked up the feverish girl in his arms and began walking to the paved road that lead into the city.

"Boy, you are a lot of trouble," Sasuke muttered as he glanced down at Sakura's sleeping face. He gave a small chuckle. "But you're kinda cute when you're sleeping. The only time when you probably keep your mouth shut anyway."

Sasuke lifted Sakura up carried her up the rocky steps that led to car. "Man, you're heavy. What did you eat today?"


	9. Frustrations

**Song of a Cherry Blossom  
**by Diana-san

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

**

**Chapter 9**

Sasuke plopped the cherry-head girl down on a couch when he got home. Sakura made no efforts to move and laid there on the couch like it was her home. Sasuke sighed as he sat down in a nearby armchair. He started to dry his hair with a white towel but then threw it on the carpet floor.

"What am I going to do with you?" Sasuke muttered.

He stood up and walked over to Sakura who was sleeping peacefully despite the fact that she was running a high fever. Sasuke placed his hand once again on Sakura's forehead. She had cooled down slightly but the fever was still high. Sakura's breathing was slow and unsteady and she shivered even though she had a blanket over her. Sasuke got down to his knees and began wiping Sakura's face with a wet towel. The feverish girl stirred for a second but made no notion of being awake. Sasuke glanced at Sakura as he leaned against the sofa.

_Now who's going to have to change you out of the wet clothes you're in?_

Sasuke sighed. "This is going to be a long night."

* * *

Sakura yawned as she drowsily opened her eyes. The morning rays of sunshine came through the window and touched against Sakura's cheeks. A familiar white ceiling came into view and it made Sakura feel at ease. The cherry blossom girl closed her eyes as she was glad to be in her own room. She had a dream the night before that she was in Sasuke's house and was glad that it was just a nightmare. She snuggled deeper into the comfortable blankets that made her feel like she was sleeping on a cloud. In fact, it was the first time she had such a good night's sleep.

_Must be because of my silky blankets. Silky blank--wait! When did I ever have blankets made out of silk?!_

"Hey, wake up!" a voice called out.

Sakura frowned at the voice. _Where's that voice coming from? It sounds a lot like--_

"Hey, you pig! Stop sleeping so much."

Sakura stuck her arm out from under the comforts of her blankets and swung it out at the voice as if that would quiet down the sound. "Annoying alarm clock," she muttered in her sleep.

"OW! My nose!" the voice yelped in pain.

_I need to get that alarm clock fixed. I must be hallucinating if I think that my clock is starting to talk and--_

Sakura bolted upright from the bed as her brain suddenly came into realization. Sasuke got up from the ground while clutching his nose. Sakura grabbed a pillow and slammed it down on the figure that was getting up from the ground.

She screamed at him. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! PERVERT!!"

Sasuke grabbed the pillow and flung it across the room. "PERVERT?! WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PERVERT? YOU BROKE MY NOSE!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM THEN?!" Sakura yelled at him.

"YOUR ROOM? Take a good look around you. Like you afford to live in a room like this!"

Sakura stopped yelling and paused to examine her surroundings. "Oh."

Sasuke glanced up at Sakura. "Oh? OH? Is that all you can say? You broke my nose without even making sure what you were doing!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You men are such big babies."

Sasuke raised his arm as if he was going to hit the girl. Sakura eyed him as if daring him to hit her. Sasuke grumbled some curses under his breath and slowly lowered his arm. He stood up while still rubbing his supposedly "broken nose".

"Breakfast is downstairs," he grumbled as he walked to the door. "Even though you don't deserve it," he added in before closing the door behind him.

Sakura stuck her tongue out at Sasuke's back for the last comment. She yawned as she briefly combed through her messy hair with her fingers. She glanced in a nearby mirror and frowned. Something was different about her but she couldn't place her finger on it. Sakura turned around and glanced back in the mirror again. Nothing seemed out of ordinary there. Her cherry-colored hair was as messy as ever, her emerald green eyes were as green as green could be, and she had on her regular pajamas…

_Wait a minute! Since when did I wear pajamas that were made out of silk?_

Sakura touched the sleeve of the shirt and then closed her eyes as she tried to remember when she ever put them on. What came across her mind was a long and white blank.

Sakura shook her head to clear her thoughts and sat down on the bed as she tried to remember what even happened the night before. "It might even explain how I got here," Sakura mumbled as she eyed the bedroom.

Suddenly it dawned on her. She gasped as she covered her opened mouth with her hands, letting it all sink in slowly. "Noooooooooo," she moaned softly as she thought of something. "Please tell me that it wasn't him who changed my clothes," Sakura choked out in a low whisper. The cherry blossom glanced at the door where beyond it sat Uchiha Sasuke eating his breakfast. Sakura gave a small nervous laugh. "No, he couldn't have," Sakura said to convince herself. She went to sit down in front of the vanity desk where she briefly combed through her hair again while getting distracted by her thoughts.

"He wouldn't," Sakura said as she nodded along with the mirror version of herself. Sakura frowned. "Would he?" Sakura asked weakly as she let her fingers fall down and tapped against the tabletop. Feeling agitated, she slammed her hand down on top of the table. She jumped out of her seat and rushed out of the door and into the hallway.

_I am going to need some answers or else I will go crazy from not knowing._

Sakura walked to the end of the hallway and down the large staircase. Sakura continued walking until a pleasant aroma filled her nose. She followed the scent of food and came upon a large mahogany door. Sakura pushed open the door and was almost blinded by the brightness inside. Windows lined one side of the wall and all the curtains were pulled back to let the bright morning sunshine in.

Sasuke was sitting at the very end of a long dining table with a newspaper in his hands. Sakura marched down along one side of the table and came to a stop in front of Sasuke so that she blocked any light that was coming through the windows. Sasuke gave a deep frown when his light became blocked by the pink-haired girl. He sighed as he glanced up at Sakura.

"What do you want?" he asked in annoyance.

Sakura ignored his question. "You know what I want. I want some answers."

Sasuke turned back to his paper and remained his cool exterior expression. "Answers? What do you mean by that?" he asked.

Sakura pointed accusingly at Sasuke and exclaimed, "Don't think I will forgive you for touching me. If you tried anything, I swear I will kick you over to the next millennium."

The ebony-haired man turned a page in his newspaper and smirked. "Try anything? And what do you mean by that?"

Sakura glared at him. "What do you mean by that?" Sakura mimicked. "You know what I'm talking about so don't act like you don't know."

Sasuke gave a fake yawn. "No one would want to do anything to you anyway… flatsy."

Sakura's eye twitched. "YOU LITTLE…" She reached out to try to strangle him but Sasuke jumped out of his seat before she could.

Sasuke smirked. "Relax. It wasn't like I looked on purpose."

Sakura let out a low growl. "Come here chicken-hair so I can break you into little pieces." Sakura cracked her knuckles as she walked slowly to Sasuke.

Sakura threw a fist out but Sasuke quickly held it back with one hand. "If you let me finish..." Sakura glared as she tried to use her other fist but Sasuke caught that too with his other hand. "...I didn't change your clothes." Sakura squirmed underneath Sasuke's grip as she attempted to kick him in the shin but failed.

Sasuke laughed at Sakura's attempts before letting go of her which caused Sakura to fall forward. Sasuke stuck out a finger and flicked Sakura's forehead.

"Later forehead girl," he remarked as he walked away.

Sakura touched the spot on her forehead where Sasuke had flicked her and let out a scream of frustration. "UCHIHA SASUKE! YOU ARE GOING TO PAY!"

* * *

Sakura stomped down the hallways as she tried to let out all her anger in her steps. She had decided to find her clothes from yesterday since she didn't know where Sasuke went off to. A few turns and once down a set of stairs led her to a long dark hallway. A light was on at the end of the hallway and Sakura silently walked towards it. The slippers on Sakura's feet barely made any noises and when she neared the lighted up room, she could hear voices coming from the inside of the brightly lit room.

Sakura stopped and peeked in the room as she carefully shielded herself in the shadows of the dark hallway. Two middle-aged women were inside and doing a basket full of laundry. Sakura could see her clothes lying on top of the basket.

The cherry blossom raised her hand to knock on the door but stopped when she heard her name being brought up in the conversation.

"Did you hear about Young Master and that girl Sakura?" the shorter and stouter of the two women exclaimed.

_Young Master? They aren't referring to that idiot are they? _Sakura wondered. She laughed to herself at that ridiculous name which did not suit the idiot Sasuke at all.

"Yes! The whole staff heard about how Young Master brought home a girl yesterday night," the taller one replied excitedly. "One of the maids said that he was going to propose to her but she fainted from the excitement so that's why he carried her home."

Sakura turned a bright red. _Proposed?! To that THICK-HEADED, COLD-HEARTED, EMOTIONLESS ICE BLOCK?!_

_First I get dragged her while unconscious and now I'm part of everyone's gossip?! _Sakura's head screamed.

The two women inside continued their conversation while unaware that the subject of their discussion was standing right outside and going mentally crazy.

The stout woman nudged the taller and skinnier one and whispered loudly even though no one was in the room to hear them except for Sakura who remained hidden. "I heard that Young Master was planning to elope with her instead because he knows that his father wouldn't approve of her."

"She doesn't look like she comes from a wealthy family," the tall one remarked. "Old Master would have a heart attack if he heard that Young Master Sasuke was marrying a pauper just like Itachi-san married that lower class girl."

The stout lady nodded. "After all, no one is suitable enough for an Uchiha then someone from the upper class."

Sakura seethed. _Well, excuse me if I don't meet everyone's expectations. _

The sixteen-year-old had decided that she heard enough and she marched right in the room. The talking ceased immediately when the pink-headed girl walked in. Sakura smiled sweetly. "May I have my clothes back please?"

The tall lady looked down in shame like she was caught doing something guilty as she handed Sakura the garments of clothing. Sakura thanked her and strode off leaving the two women barking at each other in sharp whispers.

"Now look what you done!"

"Me? You started it! Now, if she rat us out then we might get fired!"

Sakura laughed when she left the two women bickering inside. Carrying her clothes, she found the room where she had slept in the night before and entered. The bed was already made and it looked like it was cleaned from top to bottom during the time she had left thirty minutes ago. She closed the door and made sure to lock it before changing back into her old clothes. She tossed the pajamas on the bed and was about to leave when she noticed a picture tucked behind a small golden trash container. She pulled the picture out and smoothed out the wrinkles.

It was a picture of someone who looked exactly like Sasuke but a few years older. The tall man had his long hair in a ponytail and he was dressed casually. His arms were draped over a young looking lady who was probably the man's girlfriend.

_I wonder who this guy is. Could he be that guy those two ladies mentioned in the laundry room? _Sakura wondered. _Itachi-san… I bet he was a whole lot better than that idiot Sasuke._

Sakura placed the photo on top of the vanity table and decided not to ponder on the subject anymore. She left the room and closed the door gently behind her before going downstairs and looking for the front door. Sakura skipped down the red carpeted stairs all the while wondering how she was going to even find her way out since finding her way to the dining room was a mere accident. Sakura was so lost in her thoughts that she almost ran into Sasuke at the bottom of the steps.

"What are you still doing here?" Sasuke asked with a slightly amused smile on his face.

"I was just leaving," Sakura shot back.

Sasuke smirked. "You aren't lost are you?"

"Of course not!" Sakura turned her head away so that she couldn't see his face. "In fact, I know exactly where I am going," Sakura lied.

Sasuke smirked as if he didn't believe her. "Okay then," he said as he walked up the stairs.

Sakura shut her eyes and resisted the urge to ask him for help.

Sasuke turned around and called out, "Hey forehead!"

The pink-headed girl turned around at the sound of the name. "What?" she asked while totally forgetting what he had called her by. Sasuke threw something down and Sakura caught it before it fell to the ground. "You might need this," he said as he jogged up the rest of the stairs.

Sakura looked dumbfounded at the item in her hand. It was some sort of paper. She examined the front and almost tripped over the last step of the staircase when she saw what it was.

"A map? He gave me a map?!" Sakura exclaimed in shock.

The petal-haired girl opened the neatly folded piece of paper to reveal a large colorful map. Rooms and hallways were marked and numbered and a small but readable legend was printed at the bottom right corner. Even a small compass was printed at the top. Sakura squinted at the piece of paper. She could barely even tell which room was which and even where she was actually located on the map. "How can anyone use this dumb piece of paper," she muttered.

Sakura stared frustrated at the map before crumpling it up and then reopening it. Sakura slumped down on the steps of the staircase. She moaned as she let the large map covered her face. "I'm never ever going to find my way out."

* * *

A/N: Eh, I wish I had a better way to end this chapter. Anyway, free maps of Sasuke's house for everyone who read up to here! To the fangirls of Sasuke: Please no pushing, shoving, or pulling of hair when waiting in line for the passing out of maps. Thank you.


	10. New Friend, New Enemy

**Song of a Cherry Blossom  
**by Diana-san

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

The next day was a foggy day. Gray clouds had covered up what used to be the clear blue sky and signs of a storm approaching were quite clear. The weather certainly matched Sakura's mood that day because she was not happy.

It had taken her a whole day to finally find her way out of the large mansion the day before. It was not until late in the evening when Sakura finally reached her small apartment house. By then she was already starving to death since she hadn't had any food except for the large breakfast which had extended out to also be her lunch. Feeling to lazy to cook anything much less make anything that's edible anyway, Sakura boiled some water and had instant ramen for dinner. She went to bed feeling not the least bit full and tossed and turned in bed all night. So to imagine how she felt the next day when she rolled out of bed, the cherry blossom was not the feeling the least bit cheerful.

Sakura slowly trudged into her classroom where the usual morning buzz of gossip was going around with the girls and the guys who were tossing a football around to each other. Sakura stomped to her seat and dropped her bag to the floor before slumping down on her seat. She didn't even bother to see if Sasuke was sitting behind her so that she could strangle him. Sakura rested her head against her arm and closed her eyes as she tried to get back the few hours of sleep that she lost the night before.

"Sakuuuuraaaaa-chaaaan," a sing-song voice sang out.

Sakura buried her head even deeper between her arms when she heard Naruto's voice sang out. She grunted some sort of inaudible reply and hoped that would tell Naruto to leave her alone.

It didn't.

Naruto began prodding at Sakura to see if she would move. Sakura emitted out a low growl from her throat as Naruto continued to poke her. After hearing that, Naruto decided to back off. Sakura smiled as she continued to resume her sleeping.

"Alright, let's all turn our pages to 890."

Sakura groaned loudly. Of all the days for Kakashi-sensei to pick to actually teach something. Sakura buried her head even deeper as she tried to scream out a muffled scream.

She could feel a stick being poked at her. "C'mon Sakura. No time for sleeping," Kakashi-sensei said as he continued to nudge Sakura with the yardstick.

_What is with people today and their constant poking?_ Sakura complained inside her head.

Sakura reluctantly raised her head up and set it resting against one arm. Feeling satisfied with at least being able to see Sakura's face, he moved on to his next target while ignoring the blatant glares from the pink-haired teenager.

Kakashi-sensei stood in front of Sasuke's desk and pounded the yardstick against his hand repeatedly as he tried to think of what to do with the Uchiha boy.

Sasuke had his eyes closed and his feet propped up on top of his desk. On his lap was his mp3 player and a set of earphones plugged in his ears. Kakashi-sensei stuck his yardstick out and gave a single hard poke to Sasuke's head. The ebony-haired boy opened his eyes in annoyance as he glared up at the person who did that to him. Kakashi-sensei smiled down at him. The silver-haired man extended his hand out and motioned for Sasuke to hand the mp3 player in. Sasuke sighed as he pulled out his earphones and dropped the mp3 player in his teacher's hands.

"You can have it back after class," Kakashi-sensei replied.

Sasuke yawned. "No need. I'll just buy another one."

The fan girls began squealing. "OH! CAN I HAVE IT?"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? I WANT IT!"

"NO! IT'S MINE!"

Sakura gritted her teeth as the constant cries and squeals awoken her from her three minute sleep during the time Kakashi-sensei had moved on to bug Sasuke. _Damn it Sasuke. You can even annoy me without even trying to._

She looked back at Sasuke who smiled smugly at Sakura. The cherry blossom gave him a frustrated glare before turning back around to face the front.

Kakashi-sensei had a book opened and began a long lecture on the importance of history. Sakura groaned. _I am going to be so history before class ends._

* * *

Sakura stared at the clock and watched the thing that counted the seconds moved slowly as it completed one circle. The minute hand was one minute away from twelve and Sakura could swear she was going to die if the red second hand wouldn't move any faster. It seemed to have stalled ten seconds away from the twelve as if it was trying to annoy Sakura. Finally, it touched the twelve and the bell rang, signaling the end of class and the start of lunch. Sakura grabbed her things and rushed out of the class.

Sakura ran happily down the hallways of the school as she skipped into the cafeteria. She didn't had time to fix a lunch so she decided to get the school lunch. Sakura got in line and waited as the line moved up. The cherry blossom began rummaging through her school bag as she looked for her student ID so that she could present it up at the front of the line when she got there.

"Damn. Where is it?" Sakura muttered as she felt around the insides of the bag for any plastic card. "I know I had it here somewhere," Sakura grumbled.

"Um," a small and feeble voice called out.

Sakura turned around to the back of her and looked up from her bag. A pale girl with blueberry colored hair stood holding an ID card with Sakura's picture and name printed on it.

Sakura's face brightened up at the sight of her student ID. "Thank you!" Sakura said happily as she took the card from the girl's hand. "I would have died if I lost this," Sakura said.

The violet-haired girl smiled shyly. "I-it's n-nothing."

Sakura looked at the girl closely. "Hey, aren't you in my class?"

The shy girl nodded. "Uh-t-that's r-right."

Sakura smiled as she stuck her hand out. "I'm Haruno Sakura."

The violet-haired girl took the hand and shook it gently. "H-Hyuuga Hinata," she said softly.

"It's nice to meet you Hinata. You know, you have a slight resemblance to this guy I know."

Hinata smiled shyly. "Oh, do you perhaps mean Neji-san?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, that was the guy."

"H-he's my cousin," Hinata responded.

Sakura's eyes widened. "Wow, really?"

Hinata nodded. Sakura laughed. "What a small world after all," she remarked.

The line began to move up and Sakura grabbed a red tray. "So, do you want to sit together?"

Hinata gave a small smile. "I would l-l-love to. It would be such an honor to sit with someone like you Haruno-san."

Sakura laughed. "Please. Just call me Sakura. Haruno-san makes me sound so old."

Hinata nodded. "Okay. S-Sakura?"

"Yes?"

Hinata blushed. "Oh. I was just seeing how it sounds like."

Sakura smiled. "Then can I call you Hinata?"

Hinata nodded. "Y-yes!"

Sakura reached the front of the line and handed her student ID to the cashier at the front who glanced at it and then entered some keys in the cash register. An amount showed up on the screen in front of Sakura and Sakura pulled out some money from her jeans pocket and handed it to the lady. The cashier lady handed the card and the change back to Sakura who took it with her free hand as she balanced the tray in the other hand. The petal-haired girl waited as Hinata paid for her lunch.

"So where should we sit?" Sakura asked as soon as Hinata was done paying. Sakura glanced around the school cafeteria for any free seats. She spotted an empty area in the center of the cafeteria and pointed with her free hand so that Hinata would know where it was. The violet-haired girl nodded as she followed Sakura who took the lead.

Sakura placed her tray down and plopped down on the chair in front of it. Hinata sat down in the chair beside Sakura and gently placed her tray down. Sakura yawned as she rubbed her eyes.

"Sakura-san? Are you okay?" Hinata asked with a worried expression.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, I'm just a bit sleepy."

The pink-headed girl dropped her hand and smiled. "Anyway, let's eat."

She glanced at the plate of spaghetti in front of her and gave a disdained smile. "I don't care what people say about the food here. No matter how prestigious this school is, all schools are the same when it comes to school lunch."

Hinata laughed out loud and then covered her mouth in embarrassment as her pale face turned a shade of pink. Sakura laughed. "You know Hinata, you should laugh more. You will look prettier if you laugh often."

Hinata smiled softly. "Is it because you laugh so much that you are so pretty, Sakura-san?"

Sakura gave a chuckle. "Please, I'm just a small bud amidst a field of blooming roses in this school."

Hinata shook her head. "No that's not true because one day when the bud blooms, it will surely be the most beautiful and unique flower of them all."

Sakura looked at Hinata. "And what would that be?" Sakura challenged.

"A beautiful cherry blossom amidst a field of roses."

The cherry blossom girl smiled. "In time we'll see."

Hinata nodded and picked up her fork and began eating. Sakura thought over about what Hinata said as she twirled a forkful of spaghetti on her fork. _Beautiful and unique? That is highly unlikely. Or is it?_

"Hey! Did you guys hear about what happened Saturday night at Sasuke-kun's house?"

Sakura's thoughts were broken when she heard someone talking behind her about Sasuke and Saturday night. _Oh my god! Don't tell me that this has already spread to the entire school?_

Sakura turned around slowly to peek at whoever was talking. It was a bunch of girls that Sakura recognized as girls from her class. Among the group of girls was Sasuke's girlfriend, Ino, sitting in the middle with her back to Sakura.

Sakura turned around slowly and stiffly as she tried to not look out of place. She took a peek out of the corner of her eye as she listened in on the conversation going on behind her.

* * *

"What about Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked with a bored voice.

A brunette girl set her tray down and slid in the chair beside Ino. "Well, I was shopping on Sunday at the new mall that just opened over the weekend and overheard some ladies talking about how some girl spent the night at Sasuke-kun's house."

Ino scoffed. "Please Aoi, no girl has ever spent the night over at Sasuke-kun's house. Not even I yet. You must have just been listening to some gossip started by people with too much time on their hands."

Aoi shook her head. "I am positive about this. Those ladies weren't just anybody. They work at the Uchiha mansion as maids."

Ino raised her eyebrow. "Maids?"

The brunette girl nodded. "Yeah. They must work there. One of them was complaining about cleaning windows or something but anyway, the even bigger thing was that the girl goes to our school."

Ino took a sip of her drink and set it down. "Oh really now?"

"Who do you think it could be?" one of the girls asked.

"I bet it's one of those quiet girls who never speak in class. They are always the most sneakiest of them all. They pretend they are all innocent but deep down they are boyfriend stealers," Aoi remarked.

Murmurs of agreement were heard from each girl sitting in the small cluster around Ino. Aoi tossed her hair to one side. "I'm pretty sure I know who it is too."

Ino crossed her arms as she crossed one slender leg over the other. "And who do you think it is?"

The brunette gave a sly smile. "You know that Hyuuga girl? The one who sits in front of that Naruto? I always catch her looking behind her. She must be looking at Sasuke secretly when she thinks no else can see her."

* * *

Sakura glanced over at Hinata who was biting her lower lip and playing with the hem of her skirt. Sakura knew that as well as Hinata was trying to hide it, the violet-haired Hyuuga was in fact listening to the conversation going on behind the two of them.

"That Hyuuga chick acts all sweet and innocent that no one would ever think that she is such a slut deep down."

A single tear slid down Hinata's cheek and dropped on her lap. The girl was trying so hard not to cry and put up a brave front. Sakura frowned as she looked at the fork she was holding with anger. She couldn't stand seeing someone hurt because of gossip between some stereotypical girls. Especially someone she already considered a friend. Sakura threw her fork down on the tray and slid her chair out as she stood up. Hinata glanced up at the pink-headed girl in surprise and shock.

"S-Sakura-san?" Hinata whispered in confusion.

Sakura picked up the tray of spaghetti and walked over to the group of girls behind her. She gently tapped the brunette girl on the shoulder who's back was to Sakura. Aoi turned around and before she could even say anything, Sakura dumped her tray of spaghetti on the brunette's head.

Aoi shrieked and jumped up from her seat. She began screaming at the top of her lungs as she flailed her hands as if that would make the spaghetti go away. Sakura winced as Aoi's piercing screams echoed throughout the entire cafeteria.

Many people sitting in and out of the cafeteria began to stare as if they hadn't already. There would have been an eerie silence if it weren't for a certain brunette girl's loud screams. A crowd was already starting to form around the group with Sakura and Aoi facing off each other.

Aoi stopped her screams and gave a deep glare at Sakura as if her gaze could penetrate through the pink-headed girl and split her into tiny pieces. Aoi raised her finger and pointed accusingly at Sakura. "YOU!" she cried out.

Before Aoi could say or do anything, the crowd had started to form a small entryway as the principal of the school walked through.

The old man sighed as he placed his arms behind him. "What is going on around here?" he asked plaintively.

Aoi stamped her feet as she pointed at Sakura. "SHE dumped her disgusting lunch on me!"

Sakura smirked. "Well, I thought it suited your personality."

Aoi glared menacingly at Sakura and looked as if she was going to attack. Sakura glared back at Aoi and the tension between the two increased. As if on cue, they both started to lunge at each other's throats but were held back. Two guys grabbed hold of Sakura's arms and Aoi's friends held Aoi's arms tightly.

The principal sighed. Never in his thirty years of teaching has he ever seen such a thing happened at the highly prestigious school. He glanced at Sakura and noticed her unusual pink hair that stood out from the crowd of students. He gave a small chuckle as he walked over to her. He stood in front of Sakura and shielded her view of Aoi's face which she had loved to send to the next planet over. Sakura glanced up at the old man standing in front of her and her eyes widened. She had never met the principal of the school before but she knew that it was because of him that Sakura was able to attend the number one school in all of Konoha.

He gave a slight smile towards Sakura. "Miss Haruno-san is it?"

Sakura nodded slowly. He gave a slight nod as he beckoned for the two guys to release her. The two guys immediately dropped their grasp on Sakura's hold and Sakura almost toppled over. The roseate haired girl regained her composure and straightened herself out. She cleared her throat as she glanced down at her shoes and avoiding looking into the principal's eyes.

"Please come with me, Miss Haruno-san," he said as he turned away and began walking.

Sakura looked up from her shoes and glanced at the back of the old man. She slowly began to follow him as all eyes watched her.

"WAIT A MINUTE!"

All heads in the cafeteria turned to look at Aoi who was still heaving with anger at Sakura. The pink-headed girl sighed and crossed her arms and tapped her feet impatiently.

"What?" Sakura asked in a bored voice.

"I think you owe me an apology for your _gorilla-like _behavior!"

Sakura blinked her eyes. _Gorilla-like? _

The roseate haired girl glanced up at the principal. He cleared his throat. "I'm sure that Miss Haruno-san will prepare a public apology to you once we have this matter settled."

Aoi gave a harrumphed. "Well, she better."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Well, she better," Sakura mimicked in a high pitched voice.

The principal closed his eyes as if in deep thought. "Let's go now Miss Haruno-san so we can discuss your punishment."

He glanced at the crowd of students surrounding the area. All the students began to scattered as if they saw nothing that happened during those fifteen minutes.

"Let's go," he said.

Sakura followed after him and they walked out of the cafeteria doors. Hinata clasped her hands together as she watched the cherry blossom walk away.

"Sakura-san," Hinata whispered. _Thank you._


	11. Punishment

**Song of a Cherry Blossom  
**by Diana-san

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Sakura stepped inside the large and spacious office. She never understood why so many kids feared ever having to be summoned to the principal's office. If there wasn't the possibility of having being sent back a grade or having your strict parents notified about your straight F's last week then the principal's office wouldn't be much of a threat.

The principal stood in front of the vast window where itf overlooked the campus grounds. He turned and gestured towards the seat across the desk from him. Sakura slowly made her way to the chair. She sat down as she tried not to imagine the many students who sat in that chair while awaiting their doom. Sakura laughed to herself. She must have been hanging around Naruto too much. Her imagination was getting the best of her.

The principal raised an eyebrow as Sakura laughed to herself. "Is there anything funny that you would like to share with me Miss Haruno-san?"

Sakura abruptly stopped laughing. "No, not really."

He sighed as he sat down in his armchair. "Now, Miss Haruno-san…"

"Please, call me Sakura. Miss Haruno-san is a little too much for me," Sakura interrupted.

He nodded. "Sakura-san then. I consider myself fair when it comes to giving students here a chance to explain things. That privilege also holds for you"

Sakura sighed. "Look…" Sakura trailed off as she tried to find an appropriate name to address the principal who may decide her fate in the coming minutes. Her jade green eyes scanned the desk in front of her and spotted a shiny gold name plate. "Sarutobi-sensei…I _could _explain why we are sitting here chatting today but then I would just be wasting my breath on explaining a situation where I know you will just tell me 'you should have been the bigger person' and then that would be getting us nowhere now, wouldn't it?"

The principal sighed. "Sakura-san, as you can see, I am an old man. Your deliberate attempt at trying to get away with not explaining the situation at hand is not helping."

Sakura blinked innocently. "Really? But you don't look a day over fifty."

"You're completely missing the point Sakura-san."

Sakura sighed. "Okay, so you really want to know?"

Sarutobi nodded.

"Really?" Sakura asked in disbelief.

"Sakura-san," Sarutobi-sensei warned.

Sakura raised her hands up in defeat. "Okay, I will tell." Sakura clenched her fists. "That little conniving bratty…" Sakura said in a disgusted tone as she described Aoi.

Sarutobi cleared his throat. Sakura paused as she unclenched her fists. "Right, sorry." Sakura continued on as she sat back against her seat, "She went out of line and said some things that she shouldn't have and I dumped spaghetti over her head," Sakura finished as she summed things up.

"You dumped spaghetti over her because of that?"

"I believe that's what I said," Sakura stated.

Sarutobi closed his eyes and crossed his arms as if deep in thought. "You should have been the bigger person."

"Knew that you would say that."

"I'm afraid I still have to give you a punishment."

Sakura frowned. "Even though I explained things?"

The principal nodded. "Aoi's father donates a lot of money to this school and if I don't give you a proper punishment, then the school may lose some of its funding. As you know, Sasuke's father owns this school but this school is the least of his responsibilities so even though we get a large annual donation from him, it's still not enough to cover all the extra programs we have going on at this school. "

The cherry blossom didn't look fazed by this. "Typical. Money controls everything, doesn't it?"

"I didn't want it to be like this either but even I can't have the final say. The school board is the one who controls everything."

Sakura got up. "Forget it. I will take my punishment. I don't really care otherwise."

"You would have to clean up the entire kitchen."

"Done," Sakura replied nonchalantly as she turned to leave.

The principal smiled. "You are a strong girl."

Sakura turned back to look at him. "This isn't about being strong. I made a mistake and now I'm paying for it."

"A mistake, you say? In my opinion, I applaud you for standing up for Miss Hyuuga-san. No one ever dared before to stand up to those group of girls."

"Then I guess they have their first challenge." With that said, Sakura left her words hanging in the air as she walked out the door.

Sarutobi closed his eyes as he looked at the file in front of him. "Haruno Sakura" was boldly written at the top of the folder along with a school picture of the girl. "It surely wasn't a mistake to let you in to this school."

* * *

Sakura leaned against the door of the principal's office. "The whole kitchen? That's impossible by myself. Why did I agree to such a stupid thing?" Sakura muttered as she scolded herself. Sometimes, Sakura wondered how she could live with herself at times. "I must be insane. Only someone insane would agree to such an insane thing."

Sakura slumped all the way to the cafeteria. She might as well skip the rest of her afternoon classes even though she was looking forward to music class. Kurenai-sensei would just have to wait. She would understand. Understand how crazy Sakura must be to take such a heinous job of cleaning a whole kitchen up by herself.

Sakura pushed open the doors of the cafeteria to see that it was dark inside. It would have been a tad creepy if it weren't broad daylight outside. Sakura rolled up her sleeves and marched into the kitchen behind another set of doors. She flipped on the light switch as she scanned the area. It was a large kitchen and it was larger than Sakura's own bedroom. No, probably her entire apartment room.

Sakura stomped in with a determined look on her face. She wouldn't let the thought of having to clean up whatever mess was in here stop her from completing the job.

"It's so clean already. There must not be anything to clean anyway," Sakura noted to herself.

She had spoken to soon. A littler further down the kitchen was stacks of dirty plates and trays and eating utensils. The large mess in front of her made her eyes pop out as she tried to gasp for air. "This is impossible!" she said out loud.

She slid down to the floor as she groaned loudly. "I don't even wash my own dishes sometimes. Much less the entire school's population of dishes."

A giant dishwasher caught her eye as she hurriedly got up on her feet and rushed over. She fingered the buttons on the dishwasher and gazed in amazement at the size and the high tech quality. "This is like a gadget of the future," she said in an excited whisper.

Sakura glanced at the pile of dishes next to her and back to the dishwasher. "Okay, time to start washing dishes, Mr. Dishwasher!" Sakura went and grabbed a few dishes from the top and then carried them back to the dishwasher. She opened it and stuck the stack of dishes in. After closing the dishwasher, she proceeded to push the buttons. Her finger stopped in midair as she glanced at all the buttons in front of her. "Hmm, which button am I suppose to press?"

"Maybe you should add detergent-water to it first before pressing anything." a voice said from behind her.

Sakura whirled around. "Sasuke!" She narrowed her eyes at him. "What are you doing here?" she questioned.

Sasuke walked down the row as he glanced left and right at the pile of dishes surrounding them. "I heard that you got dish duty as punishment and how could I pass up the opportunity to witness this?" He smirked at her. "It's amazing how you get passed the punishment of cleaning the dishes here in the kitchen yet you can't work a dishwasher machine."

Sakura glared at him. "Oh, like you can work one yourself?"

Sasuke nodded. "It's so simple that even a dummy like you can do it."

Sakura cracked her knuckles. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

"Step aside amateur," Sasuke said as he stood up from his leaning posture against the door.

The pink-haired girl reluctantly moved aside to let Sasuke walk through. She gritted her teeth and glared at him when he walked by.

Sakura tried to see what he was doing as she peered over his shoulders but he had already closed the door shut. He pushed a button and Sakura could hear it starting. Sakura smiled in relief that it work until she heard the unpleasant sound of a breaking dishes.

Sakura's jaw dropped as the sound of dishes breaking entered her ears. She motionlessly stood there as she was too shocked to do anything. After the sound of the dishwasher breaking down stopped, Sakura turned and looked at Sasuke.

"Y-y-you!" she sputtered out at him as she watched her only hope be crushed by her enemy no less.

Sasuke turned to run but Sakura latched herself on top of him. "Don't try to get away! You broke down my only hope of completing my task of washing all these dishes!"

Sasuke tried to shake Sakura off but she firmly held onto him. "Don't run away from me! Stay here and face me like a man!"

"Get off of me!"

"No, not until you agree to help me!"

Sakura and Sasuke continued to struggle as Sakura yanked Sasuke's hair. "HEY! Not the hair!" Sasuke cried out. Sakura smirked. "Do you want a fashionable haircut done by me?" she asked evilly.

"Oh ok, FINE!" Sasuke gave in. Sakura jumped off from Sasuke's back as she turned around angrily. "I'll help you if you don't come near me anymore."

Sakura smiled. "Deal."

Sasuke grumbled under his breath. "Stupid woman."

"What was that?" Sakura asked.

"Nothing."

Sakura filled the sink with water and gestured for Sasuke to come over. He grudgingly walked over and glared at her. "What?" he asked irritated.

"Roll up your sleeves and start helping." Sakura gave him a pile of dishes and he stumbled backwards as he tried to keep his balance with the large stack. She smiled. "See, we are making progress already."

He glared at her as he placed the dishes down in the warm water. "Am I done here now?" he asked annoyed. Sakura rolled her eyes. "Why don't you try actually washing the dishes by scrubbing it?" she said sarcastically as she tossed the Uchiha a towel. "Use that," she instructed him before continuing on with her own pile of dirty dishes.

The towel hit Sasuke in the face and dropped down to his hands. He gritted his teeth while trying to not lose his temper and flare up at the cherry blossom who seemed to be unaware of the fact that she pissed him off. If she was then she was doing a good job of hiding it. Sasuke smirked before dropping the towel on the floor.

"This is what I don't like about you commoners. You people have absolutely no resources."

Sakura glanced up without changing the unmoved expression on her face. "You say something?"

"One push of a button on my phone and I'll have all this work done for me."

Sakura continued on with scrubbing the spaghetti sauce off a plate. "Really then?"

"You don't believe my words?"

"No, I believe it. I'm sure that there isn't anything Uchiha Sasuke couldn't do. It's just a shame that you would think so beneath yourself and hire someone else to do your own work."

Sasuke frowned. "What's that suppose to mean?"

The petal haired girl picked up another plate and began to scrub off the spaghetti sauce. "Nothing," she replied nonchalantly.

Sasuke scowled. "All right. You don't think I can wash all these dishes?" Sasuke took off his black jacket and tossed it to the floor. He rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt and loosened his collar. "I'll show you what an Uchiha is made of," he muttered as he forcefully grabbed one plate from a tall pile of dirty dishes and began to scrub hard like he was attacking someone.

Sakura whistled lowly as she turned her attention back to her own pile of dirty dishes. A wide grin was spread across her face as she hummed silently to herself. "Baka," she whispered. She peeked at Sasuke out of the corner of her eye and saw that he started scrubbing madly on another dirty plate. Sakura couldn't help but continue to have the same stupid grin plastered over her face. She looked down so that Sasuke wouldn't notice as she tried to stifle her laughs. _Really, guys act so stupid when you say one little thing to them, _Sakura mused to herself. _Ah, well the faster I get him to work, then the faster I can get out of here._

After what seemed to be the tenth thousandth plate, Sakura slowed down her pace and began to work slowly as she tried to loosen up the stiffness in her shoulders. She took a glance at Sasuke who had been working silently for the past hour. The kitchen was eerily quiet except for the sounds of water swishing back and forth and plates clanging against each other. Sakura cleared her throat which earned her a brief stoic stare from Sasuke before he turned away. Sakura made a face at Sasuke for his rude look before turning back to her own still never-ending pile of dirty dishes.

**_Fling_**

It was an accident. She swear it was. She didn't mean it to happen but it did. Sakura smiled nervously as she tried to avert Sasuke's angry gaze. She couldn't help but peek at his face where one side of his cheek was completely covered with suds.

"Oops?" Sakura nervously said with a chuckle.

Sasuke wiped off the suds with the back of his hand with an enraged look on his face only you wouldn't even be able to tell he was angry since he still looked like the same emotionless Uchiha that was washing dishes a few minutes ago. But Sakura could sense the bad vibes emitting out of Sasuke and the dangerous glint in his onyx eyes.

Sasuke took a step towards Sakura.

Sakura stepped back. "W-what do you think you're doing?" she stuttered. Sakura quickly glanced around her and grabbed the thing nearest to her. Just her luck, she happened to grab a dirty plate. Sakura made a slightly disgusted face at the contents still on the plate as she held it up in front of her as a shield. Sasuke momentarily stopped before glancing at the dirty plate that was suppose to be some sort of a defense weapon. He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"You know…you should clean that plate up," Sasuke said in a bored voice.

Sakura hesitated before answering. "Y-you're right," she replied. "That's why you should go back to where you were and I'll just stay over here with this dirty plate."

Sasuke thought for a moment. "Or…" he drawled out. "I can do this!" Sasuke grabbed the nozzle of the spray used to clean dishes and aimed it at Sakura.

The rosette haired girl gasped. "You wouldn't dare."

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "Or would I?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at Sasuke. "If you push that button Uchiha Sasuke, consider yourself a dead man."

The raven headed boy thought for a moment. "I guess it's a chance I have to take."

And he pushed it. Water shot out and hit Sakura in the face. Sakura shielded her face with her arms as she took a step forward. Unluckily, Sakura happened to step in a puddle of water and it caused her foot to slip. Sakura screamed as she waved her arms for balance. Sasuke instinctively reached forward and somehow through that split second, Sakura managed to grab an object to stop her fall. Unfortunately, she was able to pull that object down with her.

The two of them fell down on the slippery floor as water continued to spray crazily around the kitchen making everything completely wet. Sakura sat up with water still in her eyes as she spat out water that she choked on. Sasuke groaned as he sat up when a spray of jet cool water hit him in the face. The cherry blossom coughed as she fumbled with her hands for the uncontrollable spray.

"Sasuke…" Sakura said while gritting her teeth. Sasuke looked up as he noticed that it stopped raining inside the kitchen. A very damp and very angry pink headed girl loomed over him with an evil glint reflecting off her emerald eyes.

Sasuke braced himself for it. Angry, loud, and possibly ear splitting was what Sasuke expected to be coming for him. But when an eerie silence came followed by laughing, Sasuke couldn't help but let his jaw drop wide open and his eyes gawking at the girl in front of him.

Sakura was laughing so hard that she had to clutch her stomach in pain. She collapsed down on the ground on her knees as she leaned against the door for support. Fits of giggles erupted as Sakura tried to calm herself down.

Sasuke got closer to the laughing girl. "Hey," he said after awhile. Sakura couldn't respond but she waved her hand at him to show that she heard him. Sasuke couldn't help but give a small laugh. It was only for a split second but Sakura caught it. Something resembling that of not a frown or a grim face, but of a smile. It was a lopsided kind of smile but it was a smile alright.

Sakura's laughing died down as her emerald eyes gazed into Sasuke's own eyes. For a split moment, Sakura didn't feel like she hated the guy any more than she should. Sitting there in the kitchen with both of them dripping wet and her laughing like an idiot and him giving the slightest smile felt almost peaceful and serene. Maybe the two of them would be able to work out their differences after all…

"I'm out of here."

Or not.

Sakura watched as Sasuke got up and shook out the water in his ebony hair. He grabbed his black jacket and tossed it over his shoulder. He took a step towards the door before turning his head back. "I think you can handle all that," he said in a dull voice as he gestured towards the pile of dirty dishes.

She said nothing but nodded. Sasuke turned around and walked out without another look back. Sakura silently watched his retreating back as the swinging door finally closed so she couldn't see him anymore.

Sakura glanced at the sink where the dishes were piled up. They were nearly done even though before it looked like the pile would never end. Sakura went over and picked up one of the dirty plates and began absent-mindedly scrubbing at it. An uneasy feeling tugged at her heart. She didn't understand why but she felt kind of lonely without Sasuke standing next to her and listening to him curse for five minutes at each single plate while making some foul remark as if each plate was his enemy.

_Why didn't I stop him?_

That thought popped into her mind and jolted Sakura out of her daze. "This is stupid," Sakura muttered. "Why should I care if he stays or not? He wasn't much of a help anyway. And all he did was complaining in the first place."

Sakura angrily scrubbed at the plate until her hands turned red from clutching the scrubber too hard. "That idiot! And to think that I thought we could make amends but no, he had to be his emotionless I-have-nothing-to-be-happy-about-in-this-life-so-I-will-just-sulk-about-it-and-make-everyone-around-me-miserable self and walk away and leave me to finish all the work." Sakura scrubbed madly to forget her overwhelming anger at Sasuke. "It really does seem impossible not to be mad at him," she muttered.

* * *

Sasuke rummaged through the pockets of his jacket as he looked for his watch. He finally found it and glanced at the time. It was close to six o' clock. Sasuke continued his walk down the empty hallways of the school as he reached the main door that leads out to the front of the school. He glanced outside and noticed that the sky had darkened and dark, gray clouds had gathered in a group.

_It's going to rain, _Sasuke thought as he pulled out his cell phone. He punched in a few numbers as he leaned against the wall.

"Hello, Yashiro? Pick me up at the front of school," Sasuke directed. The Uchiha closed his hand phone and stood waiting for his driver to pick him up. Yashiro arrived almost immediately in a black Sedan as he stepped out of the car and into the pouring rain. Sasuke watched as a black umbrella went up and as it continued its way towards him. Sasuke proceeded outside as he took the other umbrella that Yashiro held in his other hand. Without saying a word except for his subtle nod to leave, Sasuke walked to the car and got in. Yashiro followed after the stoic teenager and got inside the driver's seat as he started up the engine.

Sasuke stared out the window as the car started to move forward and his view of the school disappeared behind him.

_She's probably still washing dishes, _Sasuke thought with a smirk. The thought of the pink headed girl getting frustrated and then physically breaking a plate or two popped into his mind and he chuckled to himself.

_Oh, she probably didn't bring an umbrella. _Not that Sasuke could care if Sakura got wet or anything. It was below any of his concerns that the girl would have to come to realization that today was just not her day. _But she's such an idiot sometimes. She might get herself sick again like last time. _

Sasuke frowned at his reflection in the tinted car window. He didn't like these thoughts entering his mind. He was starting to feel guilty if that was what you call it.

"It's not like it's my fault," Sasuke muttered.

"Did you say something, Young Master?" Yashiro asked as he glanced at the rearview mirror at Sasuke.

Sasuke gave a glare which was something Yashiro was used to. After all, Yashiro had been with the Uchiha family before either of the Uchiha brothers had been born. Watching the two Uchiha siblings grow up, he knew what each of them was like.

"No," Sasuke responded sharply. A look of uncertainty flicked across his eyes which Yashiro caught. "Uh," Sasuke started as if in hesitation. "Go back to school. I just remembered I forgot something there."

Yashiro nodded as he started to turn the car around. When the car pulled up in front of the school, Yashiro started to get out to open the door for Sasuke.

"Don't bother," Sasuke said as he grabbed his umbrella and got out of the car. Sasuke quickly ran to the door leading inside the school as he tried to kick it open only to realize that it opened the other way.

"Stupid doors," Sasuke muttered under his breath. "Remind me to do something about this later."

Sasuke closed his umbrella as he ran through the dark and empty hallways. His footsteps echoed and filled the silent hallways.

Sasuke pushed open the door to the kitchen only to find that it was empty. The lights were turned off so that it was dark inside and there was no sign of the rosette haired girl.

* * *

Sakura shivered as she walked in the cold rain. It was pouring heavily and her pink hair was clinging to her face. She walked to the bus stop which was a block down from the school. The tired girl crouched down as she waited for a bus to arrive. Sakura buried her head in her arms and shielded her face from the rain.

_It's raining so hard. What if it…_

Sakura rocked slowly back and forth as she tried to calm herself down. The sky got even darker as the gray clouds began to make a rumbling noise.

"No," Sakura whispered as she buried her head even deeper within her lap.

Lightning flashed across the sky followed by a loud rumbling of thunder.

Sakura's body tensed up as she closed her eyes shut. "Make it stop. Please make it stop," Sakura whispered.

Footsteps echoed in the rain as it drew closer to the cold and scared girl. Sakura made no effort to move or even look up to see who was coming. She only covered her ears to drown out the sound of the booming thunder overhead and shut her eyes tightly to block out the flashes of lightening that lit up the dark sky.

The rain stopped pouring over Sakura as a black umbrella went up above her head. She could hear the heavy pouring of rain splattering against the umbrella. Sakura slowly opened up her tightly shut eyes to see who it was. A dark figure loomed in front of her but the rain made it hard for her to see.

"Sakura."

Sakura's vision of the silhouette figure wavered and then everything turned black. She could feel the hard ground beneath her as the rain came pouring down on her. The next thing she felt before her mind went unconscious was someone picking her up and carrying her away.


	12. Another Beginning

**Song of a Cherry Blossom  
**by Diana-san

**Author's Note: **The song in this story is "At the Beginning" by Donna Lewis and Richard Marx. It's from the 1997 movie Anastasia which is one of my favorite movies from my childhood.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or the song "At the Beginning".

* * *

**Chapter 12**

_Who is carrying me right now? So protectively as if he is scared that he would drop me any minute? _

Sakura stirred in her sleep as someone laid his hand on her forehead. Sakura could feel the warm heat radiating off of his hand. Or wait, was it her own head? Suddenly, her head felt cool again as a wet towel was placed on top of her burning forehead.

Naruto sighed. He stepped back and sat down in Sakura's desk chair as he watched the sleeping girl in front of him. Naruto clasped his hands together as he gazed out the window. It was still raining hard and the sound of rain pattering on the roof of the apartment building could be heard loud and clear. The sky was gray and dark and the thunderstorm had long gone passed.

Naruto scooted his chair closer to the bed so he could change the towel on Sakura's forehead.

"Sakura-chan," he softly whispered. Sakura began to stir in her sleep so Naruto quickly placed the newly wet towel on her forehead.

"I'm scared," Sakura murmured in her sleep.

Naruto looked up in surprise. "Of what?" Naruto asked softly, not wanting to wake Sakura up.

"Please make it stop…mom…" Sakura faintly whispered as her body tossed and turned.

Naruto gently took Sakura's hand which was resting by her side. "It's okay, Sakura-chan. I'm right beside you."

"Thunder…it's loud…"

_Thunder? _Naruto thought. He glanced outside but it was still the same view from a minute ago. "Was that what you were scared of earlier?" he murmured. Naruto tightened his hold on Sakura's hand. "Don't worry. Uzumaki Naruto will always protect you. Always. It's a promise Sakura-chan."

"Thank you," Sakura faintly murmured in her sleep.

Naruto smiled as he saw that Sakura's hand had relaxed and was no longer tensed up. "Sleep peacefully Sakura-chan."

Naruto carefully placed Sakura's arm inside the covers of the blankets and added an extra blanket he found in the back of Sakura's small closet. He changed the damp towel on top of Sakura's forehead once more before setting it back down gently on her head. Then quietly, he stepped out of Sakura's bedroom and closed the door behind him.

* * *

"_Good morning Konoha! I hope you all had a wonderful sleep last night despite the heavy rainfall. Today's temperature is in the low 70's and-" _

Sakura reached her hand out from underneath her blanket and slammed it down on the snooze button of the digital alarm clock. She groaned as she pulled the covers over her head as she tried to get back to her dream before it was interrupted by the alarm clock.

"Yes, thank you all for the award," Sakura murmured in her sleep as she practiced accepting the award for Best New Artist. "Mmh-and yes, I will have butter with that toast…"

Sakura's dream strayed away from the buttered toast as it went back to the awards ceremony.

_Sakura smiled as the nominees were called out. Sakura's smile got even larger as she heard her name being called out among three other nominees. She watched as the person on stage opened up a envelope to call out the name of the winner for Best New Artist of the Year. Sakura crossed her fingers and closed her eyes tight as she waited for her name to be called. _

"_And the winner is…" the man cried out. "Sa-"_

**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP**

The alarm clock's shrill beeping noise came on as it interrupted what should be the best part of Sakura's dream. Sakura bolted upright from her bed with the blankets covering her head. Sakura pushed the blankets off herself as she tried to find an opening for her head. Somehow she found a space for air and she stuck her head out. The annoying beeping sound continued until the girl slammed her hand hard on the off button. Sakura sighed as she slumped back against the headboard of her bed.

"Darn, and they were just about to call my name," Sakura muttered as she scratched her head.

Sakura yawned as she rubbed her eyes. Her hand made contact with something soft as she took it and dangled it in front of her. Sakura stared at the damp towel and wondered how it got on her head in the first place. Sakura gazed around her bedroom.

_Actually, I wonder how I got here in the first place, _Sakura thought.

Sakura scratched her head. She was sure she had no recollection of walking back home. Or did she?

_Okay, so I got detention and had to do child labor. And then it was raining…_

Sakura looked out of her bedroom window. The sun was shining brightly like it should and the skies were a clear blue. A pigeon was perched outside on the windowsill and peered back at Sakura.

"Do you know what happened yesterday, Mr. Pigeon?"

The pigeon cooed and flew off but not without leaving a pleasant surprise on her windowsill. Sakura made a disgusted face at the white glop that blended in with the white paint of the sill. "Gross," Sakura muttered.

She sighed and slumped down on her bed as she gazed up at the ceiling. "At least I didn't end up in that ice block's home." Sakura turned around and glanced at the clock.

"Oh my god!" Sakura shouted as she jumped on her bed and grabbed the digital clock off the table. The glowing red digits disappeared as the plug came out of its socket and dangled in the air. "Oh crap," Sakura moaned as she dropped the clock. The cherry blossom jumped off her bed and ran to the bathroom to get ready for school.

"Three minutes to dress, four minutes to get to the bus stop if I run, and a five minute bus ride if there are no bus stops made at each stop," Sakura mumbled as she laid out her battle plan. She quickly tied up her hair with a scrunchie before giving a quick glance in the mirror.

Sakura ran out of her bedroom as the door closed behind her. Holding her schoolbag in one hand, she used her other hand to grab the slightly burned toast from the toaster. She held onto it with her mouth as she grabbed her house keys from its key holder by the door.

Twirling her keys on her index finger, she removed the piece of toast from her mouth as she ran down the hall. Skipping two steps at a time down the stairs, Sakura quickly made it to the ground floor in record time. Sakura opened the doors leading outside and squinted at the morning sunshine.

"Morning, Sakura dear."

The cheerful voice of Sakura's landlady rang loud and clear as Sakura waved. "Good morning Takimoto-san," Sakura called out.

Mrs. Takimoto smiled as she continued watering her plants. "I'm so glad you are feeling well today. After what happened yesterday, I thought you would stay home today."

"Yeah, I kno-" Sakura's voice faltered. "Yesterday?"

Mrs. Takimoto nodded. "Yes, that nice boy brought you home and even stayed with you for awhile. But of course you slept like a log so I had to help you change your wet clothes. Really Sakura, what were you doing that got you so soaked? Did you walk in the rain yesterday? I was worried sick when I saw your pale face. To make it worse, you had a high fever and we had no medicine so the poor boy had to run all the way down to the drugstore in the pouring rain to get it for you and…"

Sakura tuned out the rest of the long speech. _Thank god he didn't change my clothes. Wait a minute. Boy? What boy? It couldn't be…_

"Takimoto-san! What did the guy look like?" Sakura urgently asked.

"What did he look like? Well, he was tall and…" Mrs. Takimoto said with her eyes closed as she tried to remember.

Sakura sighed. As much as she would like to know, she was running late to school.

Sakura glanced at her watch. "Takimoto-san, sorry but I'm running late. Tell me later when I get home from work, okay?" Sakura called out as she started running towards her bus stop.

_Four minutes lost. I'm not going to make it._

* * *

Sakura gasped for air as she stood panting on the school steps. "I-m-made-it," she panted. Sakura leaned against a wall for support as she held her leg which was throbbing with pain from the running. Some students walked pass her and glanced at her in curiosity. Others walked by and rolled their eyes. Sakura made a face at them. Obviously, they wouldn't know the pain of running to catch the bus to make it to school on time.

_Oh no, after all, I have my nice shiny limo, _Sakura thought sarcastically. "Rich people. I loathe them all."

Sakura trudged up the stairs seeing as she was late already. It wouldn't matter if she was more late than she already was. It wasn't as if she can be marked any tardier. Sakura sighed as she opened the door to her classroom. Thirty pairs of eyes stared at her. Correction, twenty nine pairs of eyes minus her own. But they weren't staring at her because she was late and interrupted their nice learning time. After glancing at her and seeing that the teacher still didn't come yet, they all turned back to whatever they were doing beforehand.

Sakura turned around in half shock and half disbelief. "I must be the densest person on Earth. My teacher is Kakashi-sensei. How did I ever expect me to be any later than he is?" Sakura could almost hit herself for being so stupid.

"Talking to herself, are we? But then again, this must be the only way you can entertain yourself."

Sakura grimaced. She recognized that voice. _And here is the one rich person I loathe the most._

She turned around and smiled sweetly up at Sasuke. "Well, what a pleasant surprise," Sakura said with smile. _Not. _

"Where were you yesterday?" Sasuke questioned.

Sakura looked taken aback by the question. "Why?" she asked suspiciously.

Sasuke glanced away. "No reason. You weren't there when I came back."

The rosette haired girl smiled. "Oh, so you do have a heart?"

"Just answer the question."

Sakura bit her lip. _Hmm, so it doesn't seem as if it was him who brought me home. If it wasn't him then who was it? _she thought. Sakura glanced at Sasuke warily. "I went straight home."

"In the rain?"

Sakura stared at Sasuke, her eyes never blinking. "Yes, I want to thank you for that. Nice of you to leave me behind and go off in your nice limo ride while I was stuck cleaning and then had to go home with no umbrella," Sakura said, her voice laced with sarcasm.

"I came back didn't I?" Sasuke muttered.

"But unfortunately, there is something as being too late."

The two glared at each other, their eyes never leaving sight of each other. Sakura narrowed her eyes and finally Sasuke looked away. _Hah, like you could ever stare me down, _Sakura smirked to herself.

"Okay, kiddos. Let's stop all this lovey-dovey stuff in front of my classroom," a cheerful voice ranged out.

Sasuke and Sakura turned to see Kakashi-sensei standing behind them. Kakashi-sensei smiled as he proceeded to open the classroom door to get inside.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN LOVEY-DOV-?" Sakura's words were cut off as Sasuke clamped his hand over her mouth.

Sakura pushed his hand away and glared as she stomped in after her teacher.

"Stubborn," Sasuke muttered as he shoved his hands in his pockets and strode inside the room.

Sakura set her bag down against the leg of her desk as she sat down in her seat. She rummaged through her bag as she searched for her red spiral notebook. Sakura's figure tensed up as she saw a certain someone's pair of legs walking down the aisle towards her.

_Uchiha… _Sakura thought in disgust.

It was almost as if the legs heard her thoughts because suddenly out of nowhere, one leg came out and kicked her bag down. Sakura's eyes widened as she sat up only to have her eyes meet up with a pair of dark obsidian eyes. Sasuke smirked as he walked past the gaping Sakura and sat down in his seat behind her.

Sakura slowly sat up straight as the tension rose between the two. Sakura turned her head towards Sasuke and the two glared at each other. Sakura's glare was of pure menace as Sasuke curled his lips in a slightly coy smile.

"You better watch your back Uchiha," Sakura threatened in a low voice.

"Or what? You'll blind me with your pink hair?" Sasuke taunted.

"You'll be sorry if that actually happens," she warned.

Kakashi cleared his throat to indicate class has begun. Sasuke smirked as he leaned against his chair and placed a set of earphones in his ear. Sakura held back the urge to bite him or do something that could get her into trouble as she turned away in her seat. She suddenly noticed something odd about the classroom today.

_Where's Naruto?_

* * *

Sakura swung the straps of her backpack over her shoulder as she skipped down the stairs. She crossed her arms to keep warm as the wind blew against her. Sakura took a glance at her watch. "Might as well get there a bit early since I didn't show up yesterday," she said out loud as she walked hurriedly to Icha Icha. The club beckoned to her as a place to shield her from the cold and Sakura hurried in. She pushed aside the wide doors to find herself surrounded by darkness.

"Someone better not be getting drunk again," she muttered.

"Sakura!" A voice ranged out in surprise and it echoed in the emptiness of the night club.

"Tsunade-sama?" Sakura's own voice echoed.

The pink-headed girl stumbled around chairs and tables as she headed for the light switches. She didn't have to, however, since a dim light was turned on right at that moment. Sakura's eyes adjusted to the light and she blinked a few times. Standing before her was Tsunade with a distressed look on her face.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Tsunade looked at Sakura and then patted on a stool to motion for Sakura to sit down. "I think you need to sit down for this."

"Uh oh, I heard that line before," Sakura joked.

Tsunade managed to make a feeble smile. "JIRAIYA!" she yelled out. A few moments later, the white-haired man came walking in with his head facing the floor.

Sakura glanced at him. "What happened to him?" she whispered to Tsunade.

Tsunade said nothing but sighed and shook her head. "You tell her, Jiraiya."

"Tell me what?" Sakura questioned suspiciously as she darted glances between Jiraiya and Tsunade.

No one said anything for a moment and it gave Sakura an uneasy feeling in her stomach. "Jiraiya-sama, talk to me!"

"Well, you see, there's this…uh…how should I put this…?"

Sakura clenched her fists as her fierce jade eyes bore into Jiraiya's lowered head. He must have felt it because he tensed up.

"You're set to perform on stage," Tsunade said dully.

"I think that's because that's my job."

"In a duet," Tsunade finished.

Sakura's jaw dropped. "Say what?" she asked in disbelief.

"I didn't want to tell you this, but the club isn't faring as well as we hoped."

Jiraiya nodded with a grim look on his face. "We were so busy spending money on new furniture and advertisements that we didn't notice we were going bankrupt."

"Bankrupt?" Sakura exclaimed. "How can that be? The club was jam packed last week."

Jiraiya muttered, "Stupid free refills..."

"This is really serious then?" Sakura asked.

Tsunade and Jiraiya both nodded. "Jiraiya recently got in contact with an old friend and he just so happened to be the manager of that guy who is always on the cover of those teeny-bopper magazines," Tsunade said. "We thought that having a famous idol singer would bring in lots of customers and we worked out a deal that would benefit both of us. Of course, we can't count on that it will continue to bring in more customers on a daily basis but if he sang a duet with you, Sakura, and then it would boost your popularity and we might get more customers."

"Oh my god, I can't believe this is happening," Sakura said to herself in disbelief as she turned and stared at the walls. She pinched herself and gave a small cry when she felt a sharp pain shoot up her arm. "Crap, I'm not dreaming."

Sakura whirled around to face Jiraiya and Tsunade. "Are you kidding me?" she cried out. "Perform on stage with some airhead?"

"Hey-he might not be an airhead-" Jiraiya cut in.

Sakura cut him off. "No, he's probably just some pretty looking face who can sing a few lines and then make millions of dollars off of that. I don't need to perform with anyone who doesn't take music seriously and just does it to become rich. If I wanted to sing with someone plastic, I would have brought my Barbie doll along."

"Sakura," Tsunade pleaded.

"No, I refuse. Find someone else because I won't submit myself to those kind of people. I don't need any rich, snobby guy to tell me what I should do." As she said that, Sakura stormed off past them and into the backstage area where she walked all the way to the very back room. In there she closed the door shut and leaned against the wooden frame of the mahogany door.

Sakura sighed as her eyes glanced dully at the wall in front of her. "Even though I said all that, I wouldn't be able to go through with it, would I?" Sakura asked softly to no one. "Who am I kidding? I wouldn't be able to let them down. I can't let them lose their business after all that they done for me. But I couldn't go just go down without an argument either."

Sakura sighed again as she walked around the room. It was a small room where Sakura would usually practice by herself since no one used that back room. Sakura glanced over and noticed Dosu's keyboards sitting in a corner by itself. Resting on top of the keyboards was the oh-so-familiar blonde wig she used to disguise her pink hair. Sakura picked it up and wasn't careful as some papers underneath the wig swept down to the floor. She squatted down and picked up the strewn papers as she sorted through them one by one.

"Music sheets…" she murmured. Sakura organized them and placed them in the correct order as her eyes scanned through the lyrics quickly. She held an intake of breath as her eyes began to reread through the papers once more, this time more slowly.

Sakura sat down as she placed the papers on the piano stand. She picked up the blonde wig and fingered the golden locks of hair. Sakura glanced at a nearby mirror as her reflection changed from Sakura to Saki. She took out her blue lens contacts and watched the glimmer of emerald in her eyes turn into a shade of ocean blue.

"It's hard to believe that's me," she murmured at her reflection. Sakura looked away as she glanced down at the piano keys. She ran her fingers across the smooth surface of the brilliant pearl white color of the keys. She played the first note on the music sheet. Starting out with a hum, Sakura slowly slipped into the song as the lyrics flowed out of her mouth.

"_We were strangers  
Starting out on a journey  
Never dreaming what we'd have to go through  
Now here we are  
And I'm suddenly standing  
At the beginning with you"_

Sakura glanced up at the sheet music. "Guy," her eyes read as she scanned the next few lines of the song.

"_No one told me I was going to find you  
Unexpected, what you did to my heart"_

Sakura froze stiffly as her hands continued to play but the words being sung weren't coming from her mouth. Her ears listened intently the deep male voice singing behind her. Sakura's eyes scanned the lyrics as the voice followed every word.

"_When I lost hope  
You were there to remind me  
This is the start"_

Sakura ceased playing as the notes broke off midway. She slowly turned around as her eyes met him. Sakura almost fell out of her seat when she saw his face. Eyes as dark as coal and skin as white as snow. Sakura tried to remember back to who he reminded her of. "Snow white…" she muttered.

The young man smirked. "Yes Barbie doll?" he asked obviously referring to the blonde hair and blue eyes.

Sakura's eyes glared daggers at him. "Judging from your pretty boy face, I'm guessing you're Sai, the ol' so fabulous pop sensation that I am stuck singing with," she said, her words dripping with sarcasm.

"It's nice to know I'll be working with a fan of mine," he remarked.

Sakura stood up and crossed her arms. "Why are you in here anyway? Did you not see the 'Do Not Enter or Else' sign posted on the door?"

Sai thought for a moment. "You mean the sign above the 'Intruders will be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment'? Yeah, didn't think much about it when I came in."

"Another reason why your first impression on me is getting worse," Sakura counted off. "Look, pretty boy, I'm not planning to do any duets with you on stage at anytime in any place so you can just forget about making nice with me," the cherry blossom stated in one breath.

"So you think I'm pretty?" he mused.

Sakura's green eyes darkened. "Completely missing the point," she said through clenched teeth.

Sai leaned against the doorframe and looked down the dark hallway just outside the room. "Hey, then that's your call. I didn't ask to perform with you. I rather fly solo anyway. Someone with such an ugly personality like yours could only tarnish my golden image." Sakura made a gagging face. Sai continued on, "But I heard this club isn't doing so well and this might be your only chance to save it."

"Look, I'm all for saving the club. I just don't see why you are needed," Sakura retorted.

"Because my star-studded qualities can help get you notice which will raise your popularity as established here in the club as the lead singer which then in turn will bring in more customers which means more money and that will mean happily ever after for your fellow co-workers and for this club."

Sakura scoffed, "Well…"

"At a loss for words? Okay, I'll see you later on stage."

Sai left and the room was silent once more. "Oh we'll see who'll be seeing who on stage ," Sakura told the back of the door.

* * *

"SAKUR-I mean Saki! It's almost time!"

"Oh my god, so many news crew outside."

"Look at my hair! Do you think it's okay for the camera?"

Sakura sighed as everyone around her ran around frantically, trying to get everything ready before they open the club. She glanced around as she started to head backstage. Idate was at the bar preparing drinks along with the other bartender. The waitresses were scattered everywhere, more occupied with their hair and makeup then the trays they were carrying. Tsunade rocked on her heels back and forth as she peeked through the curtains and scanned outside at the news and media people. Jiraiya, who had shouted Sakura's name earlier almost, stood on stage adjusting the microphone as he paced back and forth on stage. As for the pop star himself, Sakura could care less where he is right now. She would just rather he disappear so she could just sing the song herself.

"Yes, that would be best…" Sakura muttered.

* * *

"SAI! SAI! SAI! SAI! SAI!"

Screams cried out around the club as the lights dimmed down on stage. Girls of all ages from teenagers to middle-aged women were shouting as they waved posters and Sai memorabilia. Sakura made a gagging face as she looked out from behind the curtains at all the little heads of Sai on a stick floating around. "Oh, give me break," she said in disgust.

"What?" a voice from behind her asked. Sakura jumped a little as she felt her heart pounding a little too fast for her liking. She turned only to see the bigger version of all the posters. "Nothing," she said sweetly with a fake smile.

"Ugly hag you are with that fake smile of yours," Sai smirked.

Sakura continued smiling as she watched Sai walked away. "I hate you," she whispered through her clenched smile. "So so much."

"Did ya say something squirt?"

Sakura jumped again as she whirled around to see who it was this time. Anko glanced at her as she bit a dango off her stick. "You're up shortcakes and with that other kid."

"Are you kidding me?" Sakura asked blankly.

Anko smiled. "3...2...and 1!" She disappeared into the darkness of the shadows as Sakura heard Jiraiya's voice boom over the speakers.

"And now the moment you all been waiting for. We are delighted to give you a special performance by this year's Best New Male Artist. He'll be performing a duet with a very talented young lady who sings here every weekend. Please give your applause to Sai and Saki!"

Shouts and hollers filled the room as applause thundered. Whistles came from across the room as the energy exploded around everyone. The lights began to dim until it was almost dark. The only light that was on was radiated on stage dimly as if it's about to fade away. Silence fell over the crowd as piano music was heard.

Suddenly, Sakura's voice filled the stage. Soft and melodic, her voice rang clear as the lights began to shine around the stage while changing colors. Sai's voice then followed after and soon they blended into the chorus.

The stage got brighter as the two emerged on stage from opposite sides.

Sakura glowed under the lights in her white strapped dress as she stood beside Sai who was in a loose collared white shirt and black denim jeans.

"_Life is a road  
And I want to keep going  
Love is a river  
I wanna keep flowing  
Life is a road  
Now and forever  
Wonderful journey_

_I'll be there_  
_When the world stops turning_  
_I'll be there_  
_When the storm is through_  
_In the end I wanna be standing_  
_At the beginning with you"_

Sai extended his hand towards Sakura with a hint of a smirk on his face and she hesitated. But under the glare of the lights and the crowd of eyes watching, she reluctantly grabbed on to it.

"_We were strangers  
On a crazy adventure" _

Sai drew Sakura closer as he lifted his microphone to his lips.

"_Never dreaming_

_How our dreams would come true"_

Cameras flashed.

"_Now here we stand  
Unafraid of the future  
At the beginning with you"_

Sai released his hold on Sakura. The music continued on with their voices still singing along as they moved to opposite sides of the stage. As the ending came, the music started dying down. Sakura lifted the microphone closer to her lips as she stared out into the audience. Her eyes danced with excitement as if she had never done this before.

"_In the end I wanna be standing at the beginning…"_

Sakura looked out into the crowd as her eyes danced with excitement. She closed her eyes as the song ended with her faded voice.

"_With you…"_

It was silent for a second as Sakura lowered her microphone. She opened her eyes and was surprised to noticed Sai still by her side. The stage lights were now centered directly on them as applause erupted. The cameras never stopped flashing as the clicks came faster. Sai waved the crowd and Sakura hesitantly did the same.

Sai whispered to her, "I'm impressed. You're not that bad."

Sakura looked up at him, stunned that he complimented her. "T-thanks," she muttered out. "You're not that bad yourself," she replied. "For a pretty boy," she couldn't help but adding in.

He smirked and smiled at the crowd.

* * *

"Would you like to return to the hotel now?" the chauffeur asked as he glanced at the rearview mirror.

Sai glanced out the window of the limo as he watched the cars pass by. "No, actually I have a better idea."

He got out a piece of paper and scribbled an address on it before handing it to the driver.

"Bring me there," he instructed.

"As you wish," the chauffeur said as he started the engine.

Sai sank back into the cushiony leather of the car seat as he watched the scene outside the car window pass by.

"Guess I'll be staying in this city for awhile," he said with a smirk as the lights from the passing street lights flashed by him.

* * *

A/N: Your reviews make me feel guilty for not updating for so long. x)


	13. Invitation

**Song of a Cherry Blossom  
**by Diana-san

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

* * *

**Chapter 13**

Sakura covered her head with her math textbook as she closed her eyes for a quick nap. Kakashi's voice droned on as he continued reading from the textbook. The day was unusually peaceful and there were no disturbances for Sakura. Sakura removed the textbook from her face as she glanced back at the empty chair behind her.

The ice block is absent for once.

Sakura turned her gaze to in front of her. The seat where Naruto sat was also empty.

Naruto's absent today also.

Sakura glanced up and caught the eye of Hinata who turned her head to look at Naruto's empty chair. Hinata's cheeks turned a deep shade of red as if she was a little kid caught with the cookie jar and she quickly turned away.

"Interesting," Sakura mused as Kakashi's voice continued to talk about the wonders of geometric figures. For awhile it was peaceful as Sakura continued her nap. She wasn't sure when but suddenly a commotion stirred her awake. She glanced up with half an eye opened as she and the rest of the class watched the classroom door slide open.

"Oh, it's just Naruto," Sakura murmured as she watched the blond jumped in with a grin on his face. Sakura was about to go back to sleep when she saw Sasuke come in after Naruto. She sighed. "Just when I thought I could have peace," Sakura muttered. As she began to close her eyes, her body froze when she saw the last person coming through the doors. "No way!" she gasped as her head bolted upright from the desk. Walking through the doors was none other than the idol star himself. "Sai…" she whispered faintly. Suddenly, her throat felt dry. _Oh my god. Why is he here? _Sakura panicked. _He knows! He knows I'm Saki and he's here to bust me! _

Sakura's mind went frantic. _He must know! That's why he is here. What other reason could there be? Oh my god. Did he find out from Naruto? I'm going to kill him if he said anything. _

Sakura glared at Naruto, her eyes shooting daggers and possibly flames of hell. Naruto blinked as he glanced at Sakura who was giving him a very dark and scary look. He shivered. It was almost like the look of death. _I hope that look is directed at Sasuke, _Naruto thought as he pulled on his shirt collar nervously.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Well class, it seems we have some late arrivals to our class."

The class who was unusually quiet and still during the interruption suddenly erupted as chaos ensued. The girls who were probably containing their excitement began to jump up from their seats and crowd around the front of the room presumably to get near their idol Sai.

Squeals erupted from all over the classroom.

"SAI! OMG! YOU ARE HERE!"

"I LOVE YOU! I WATCH ALL OF YOUR CONCERTS!"

"MARRY ME!"

"KYAA! KYAA!"

Sakura winced as she covered one of her ears. The shrill shrieks and cries were enough to make you want to scratch nails on chalkboards. As dire as the circumstance is regarding Sakura's own social identity crisis, she felt like gagging a little at the sheer stupidity of some of the girls in her class.

Sai flashed a fake smile at his fans. "I would love it if every one of you would stay approximately ten feet away from me."

Apparently no one heard him as they crowded even closer. Sasuke gave a irritated look at them as Naruto backed closer to Kakashi.

Kakashi smiled as he placed his teacher's book down on the podium. "Children, it is best if we all sit down in our seats," he said calmly with the same smile on his face. The crowd of girls continued to hovered around Sai. Kakashi went behind the group of girls as he lowered his head to their height. The fan girls turned to look at their sensei who loomed before them with a dark and eerie look on his face. "OR ELSE I WOULD HAVE TO TAKE DRASTIC MEASURES." Everyone gulped. As soon as that was said, the whole class scuffled to their seats, not wanting to take any chances with Kakashi.

As everyone settled into their seats, Kakashi smiled and cleared his throat. Sasuke stepped up and handed a plain yellow folder to Kakashi. The silver-haired sensei took the folder into his hands and opened it up as he looked inside at the contents of the folder.

"Hmm…very interesting." Kakashi closed the folder and tucked it underneath one arm.

"Well, class, I'm sure you are wondering what is happening today. We have a new student with us who will be staying with our class for a few weeks. I hope you will all welcome him warmly and treat him nicely."

Many of the girls in the class murmured among themselves as the level of excitement in the air grew. "WE WILL KAKASHI-SENSEI!" they chirped in unison.

Sakura could only blink and gawk in surprise as she tried to comprehend what just happened.

Kakashi glanced around the room. "Hm, would you like to introduce yourself Sai?"

Sai smiled as he turned to face the class. "Hello everyone. My name is Sai and I'm here to observe what it is like to be a student in high school so I hope you guys will treat me the same as anyone else here."

Kakashi nodded. "Uh, let's see…where should we sit you…" Kakashi trailed off.

A few girls in the back of the room jumped up.

"He can sit by me, Kakashi-sensei!" one of them squealed as she pointed to a seat next to her.

"You idiot. I'm sitting here." The voice came from Shikamaru who was sleeping during the whole fiasco.

The girl who had earlier called out frowned at Shikamaru. "It's not like you do anything in class. We might as well give the seat to someone more deserving and charming and…" The girl started squealing before she could finish her sentence.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered.

Kakashi frowned. "Hmm…" He scanned the room and noticed an empty seat near the windows. He pointed in that direction. "You may sit there Sai. Right next to Sakura."

Sakura's mouth dropped open. "Say WHAT?" she exclaimed as she stood up and slammed her hands hard against her desk.

Kakashi smiled. "Thank you Sakura for letting Sai pinpoint your location in the classroom." Kakashi gestured to Sai who began to make his way over to his seat. Sasuke and Naruto followed after as they headed towards their seat.

Sakura turned her head to look at the empty seat next to her as she stared blankly at the empty space. _You have got to be kidding me. _The phrase repeated over and over in Sakura's head as she drowned out Kakashi's voice. She sunk into her seat with a slouch.

"Hey, you." Sakura's head snapped up as Sai's voice called out to her. She froze in place, her arm twitching as she tried not to look into Sai's gaze.

"Are you listening to me?" Sai asked this time with an annoyed tone.

Sakura turned her head slightly. "Yes?" a barely audible whisper escaped from her lips.

"Can you stop gawking at my seat? I can't sit down if I know you are going to be looking at me the whole time."

Sakura's eyebrow twitched. But before she could retort, she hesitated and turned her head away to look at the windows. _It's best not to say anything. Not until I know for sure if he knows my identity. _

Sakura glanced at the guy sitting in front of her. She narrowed her eyes at Naruto. He must have felt Sakura's deadly gaze because his body tensed up as shivers ran up and down his spine.

The bell rang signaling the end of class and the start of lunch. Sakura stood up abruptly and grabbed Naruto by the shirt collar before dragging him out of the classroom.

* * *

Outside in the courtyard, Sakura dragged Naruto to a grassy spot by the trees. "Okay Naruto. Spill. What is Sai doing here?"

"S-sakura-chan-" Naruto said nervously.

Sakura's eye glinted evilly. "You are forbidden from calling me by that name until you tell me why Sai is here at our school."

Naruto sat cross-legged as he crossed his arms. "That's a very good question…"

"AND?"

"…but I don't know why," Naruto finished.

Sakura groaned.

"He's here to study. Do you have a problem with that?" a voice came from behind Sakura.

Sakura froze. She turned around to see Sasuke and Sai standing before her. The wind rustled against her hair as she glared at the two of them. "It's rude to eavesdrop."

"It's even ruder to talk about someone behind their back," Sasuke replied.

"Then you have to excuse me for the other times before when I talked about you behind your back," Sakura replied.

Sasuke and Sakura exchanged a glare at each other.

Sai smiled. "A sharp tongue there," he remarked. He walked up to Sakura. "But I don't know why you seem to dislike me even though we have never met."

Sakura blinked. "Never met?"

"Have we?" Sai questioned.

_He doesn't know me. He doesn't even know who I am!_

"O-of course not!" Sakura stammered as she tried to hide her glee.

"Now that I think about it…you do kind of remind me of…"

Sakura slapped a hand over Sai's mouth. "We haven't met. Period." Sakura plastered a huge smile on her face, hoping it was enough to convince him to drop the matter at hand. "Well, today is a nice day. Let's go Naruto," Sakura said chirpily as she made her escape route.

"Wait…just a minute there," Sai said. He ran over to Sakura and peered at her face. "You know…that face, the voice, and the horrible attitude seems all too familiar."

Sakura clenched her teeth. "Excuse me…?"

Sai clapped his hands in realization. "Ah, that hag in that movie with the big head and-"

"HAG?" Sakura grabbed Sai's shirt collar with both hands. "I'LL SHOW YOU A BAD ATTITUDE-"

But before Sakura could do anything, Sai leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. Sai smiled as he felt Sakura's violent shaking come to a halt. Sakura's mouth dropped open as she let go of Sai's collar. Naruto's eyes popped open as his jaw dropped to the floor. Sasuke remained passive but a look of annoyance flickered in his eyes.

"Here," Sai said as he pulled out an invitation from his shirt jacket as he handed it to Sakura. "This Friday, I'm hosting a party at my cousin's house. "You're invited to come."

With that said, Sai smiled and patted Sakura on the head. "I would like to see what kind of outfit a scary person like you would wear to the party. See you then."

Sakura held the invitation as she gazed absentmindedly at Sai's retreating back. "Cousin?" she echoed. "Party? EHH?"

Naruto jumped to his feet. "SASUKE! HOW DARE YOUR BASTARD COUSIN TOUCH SAKURA-CHAN WITH HIS FILTHY LIPS!"

The cherry blossom whirled around. "Sasuke?" she softly asked.

Sasuke glanced over at the pink-headed girl with a bored look. "What?"

"THAT KISS-SNATCHING GUY IS YOUR COUSIN?"

"More or less," came the blunt reply.

"Is that why he enrolled here at this school?"

"Perhaps."

So it seems Sai doesn't have a clue that I am Saki, Sakura thought. Suddenly, the image of Sai kissing her cheek earlier flashed in her head._ "AHHH! I'm so mad! Why did he violate my face?"_

Naruto ran over to Sakura. "It's okay Sakura-chan. I can kiss it better," he offered happily.

Sakura pushed Naruto's face away. "And who said I would let you kiss me?"

Sasuke walked past the two of them. "Wait," Sakura called out. Sasuke stopped. "Um, about the party…"

Sasuke turned around as he glanced at the invitation in Sakura's hand. He walked up to her and took the invitation from her hand. Then as quickly as that, he ripped the invitation in two letting the ripped pieces fall to the ground.

Sakura stared in shock as she watched the ripped invitation drop in front of her.

"You don't have to come now," Sasuke said coolly as he turned to walk away.

The rosette haired girl looked down at the ground, still in shock. Then she glanced up in anger. "What right do you have to rip up my invitation?"

Sasuke stopped short of his tracks. "Don't think that the invitation was given to you because Sai likes you. I don't know why he invited you but it's better if you do not go to save yourself the embarrassment."

Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing. She scoffed. "I could care less if he likes me or not. I wasn't even planning on going in the first place. But that doesn't give you the right to make my own decision."

"Then what just happened shouldn't make a difference."

Sakura clenched her teeth. "Jerk," she said through her gritted teeth as she watched Sasuke retreat back to class.

"Sakura-chan…did you really want to go to the party?" Naruto asked.

The cherry blossom stood still with her clenched fists by her side as the seconds passed.

"I'm going to get lunch now," Sakura said absentmindedly as she evaded the question.

"Ahh, wait for me Sakura-chan!"

* * *

_Friday afternoon._

"S-s-sakura-san!"

Sakura turned towards the direction of the voice. Amidst the crowd of students that was pouring out from the last class of the day, Sakura managed to find Hinata standing by the water fountain with a meek look on her face. Sakura weaved her way through the crowd to reach Hinata.

"What's up? Is something wrong?" she inquired as she bend down to peer into Hinata's face. Hinata faintly blushed and glanced away quickly.

"Um…I was wondering…um…whether …well you see…tonight …there's this …um…well…can you help me…"

Sakura sighed. "Hinata, I'll be celebrating my 100th birthday before I can figure out what you are trying to ask me."

Hinata squeezed her eyes shut. "Please help me on asking Naruto-kun out!" Hinata exclaimed as she bowed her head down low.

Sakura blinked. "Well, this is…unexpected."

Hinata lifted her gaze from the floor and glanced hopefully at Sakura. "Is that a no?" The question came out barely as a whisper. Sakura scratched her head as she closed her eyes with the look of being in deep thought written across her face. "It's hard to say…I mean it is Naruto after all. Probably the densest person to walk the earth." Sakura opened her eyes as she shifted her hand to tap her chin in thought. "I guess I can take some time off from my free schedule to help you."

No sooner than had Sakura finished her sentence, the look of worry on Hinata's face quickly changed into a bright smile. Hinata grabbed hold of Sakura's hands in her own as she joyfully jumped up and down.

"Thank you, thank you Sakura-san!"

"Hey, none of that Sakura-san stuff. It's Sakura remember?"

Hinata smiled. "Right. Sakura."

The cherry blossom grinned. "So, how do you plan on doing this?"

"Tonight. At the party."

"At the party," Sakura repeated. She narrowed her eyes. "This party wouldn't happen to be hosted at Sasuke's house, would it?"

Hinata nodded. "Yes, my parents will be there also so that only just adds on to my already nervous state but I hope that won't show up during the party because then I might make a fool out of myself in front of Naruto-kun and then he'll think I'm strange or weird or something like-"

"Hinata!" Sakura rubbed her temple. "You're rambling."

"Yes, I do tend to do that when I'm nervous but I don't know why I should be since everything will be fine because you'll be helping me out…" Hinata paused. "Right?"

Sakura sighed. "Yeah, no problem." She lifted her head and forced a smile. "I'll make sure to pull Naruto aside for you to be able to have some alone time with him."

"Thank you!" Hinata jumped up and hugged Sakura tight.

"Ow!" Sakura exclaimed. Hinata stepped back with a gasp. "Oh, I'm so sorry Sakura-san! Are you okay?"

Sakura nodded as she rubbed her back. "Yeah, I'm fine. I actually had this crick in my back but now…well I think it's gone. Amazing."

Hinata smiled. "Then I'll come pick you up at five."

Sakura nodded begrudgingly with a weak smile as she waved goodbye to Hinata who was already getting inside her limo ride.

Hinata's head popped back out as she waved over to Sakura. "Oh, and it's a formal party so be sure to wear something nice," the violet haired girl called out. "See you later, Sakura-san."

The pink headed girl blinked as her hand drooped down. "…formal?"

EH?

* * *

"Jeans, jeans, jeans….ooh, here's something…nope, still jeans…"

Sakura sighed as she collapsed on top of her bed which was already piled high with clothes tossed out from her small closet.

"I wish I didn't donate _all _of the dresses that Grandma gave me," Sakura murmured. She turned in her position on the bed and caused a small avalanche of clothes to collapse and hit her on the face. She sighed underneath the pile of clothes as she dug her way back out.

She sat up as she combed through her hair in frustration. Sakura glanced at her cell phone which was sitting restfully on top of her drawer. She wistfully stared at it as she thought about calling Hinata and saying she was not feeling well or something. _No, I can't. I promised I would go. _

Suddenly, the phone rang as it began to vibrate off the table. Sakura quickly caught it before it hit the floor. _But if Hinata decides to cancel, then there's nothing I can do about it, right? _

She flipped open up the phone. "Hello?"

"SAKURA!"

Sakura winced as she held the phone at an arm's length. She sighed as she brought the phone back to her ear. "Tsunade-sama, I know we are separated by a long distance but I can hear you perfectly fine if you speak just a tad bit quieter."

"Never mind that!" Tsunade answered. "About tonight…"

"Oh right, tonight I'll be perform…" Sakura stopped in mid-sentence as she just realized what tonight was.

"Wrong! How could you not tell me about this, Sakura? After all we've been through, I thought you would be able to come to me with anything that's on your mind."

"You're right. I'm sorry." Sakura racked her brain to figure out what she was apologizing for. "And this is about what again?"

"The party! Naruto stopped by just now and asked if I was going to let you go. How was I suppose to respond to that when I wasn't even aware that there was even a party to begin with? Is it because you were afraid Jiraiya might say no because let me tell you something-"

"No, this is good actually because…" Sakura interjected.

"Haruno Sakura. You are going to that party. I don't want to see you at all anywhere near this club tonight. You are officially fired for today. Return tomorrow and give me the details about what happened. Have fun." With that said, a click came from the other end of the line as Tsunade hung up leaving a speechless Sakura on the bed.

"But, I don't want to go…"

* * *

"You look fine Hinata," Sakura said for the umpteenth time as the two of them walked down the long front pathway leading to the Uchiha mansion. "I'm sure Naruto will fall head over heels when he sees you in this."

Hinata's face turned white. "I-I should go back and change. I wouldn't want Naruto to hurt his head." She turned around to head back to the car.

"It's an expression, Hinata," Sakura said as she steered the nervous girl back to the front door. "And you shouldn't be the one running away. If anyone should be leaving, it's me."

Hinata glanced back at Sakura who was slowly following behind. "Did something happen between you and Sasuke-kun?"

"No," Sakura replied flatly. "What makes you think that?" she asked sharply.

Hinata nervously smiled. "N-no reason."

Sakura frowned as she glanced at her watch and watched the minute hand land on the three. "Fifteen minutes pass five. At least we arrived early."

"A bit early, isn't it? I wasn't planning to arrive until six since it starts at seven."

Sakura's eyes glowered at the door. "Early means you're on time, on time means you're late."

"I can see you and Sasuke-kun had a fight," Hinata murmured.

Sakura's ear twitched. "You say something, Hinata?"

"N-nothing."

Hinata sighed in relief when Sakura nodded and crossed her arms. The violet haired heiress walked up to the door and pressed at the doorbell. Instinctively, Sakura shielded herself behind Hinata. Moments later, the door opened and a maid peered out at them. Hinata smiled when she heard a sigh of relief escape from behind her. The door immediately swung open as the maid gestured them in.

"M-miss Hyuuga-sama," the maid said in respect as she bowed low. "And…your guest?"

"Yes, this is Sak-" The rest of Hinata's sentence was muffled off by Sakura's hand.

"Guest is fine," Sakura replied coolly. "No need to announce my presence." Her eyes darted from side to side. "Let's proceed in."

Hinata laughed nervously as the maid watched in surprise when Sakura darted in and crouched behind a vase. The young maid turned to Hinata with a questioned look on her face reading, 'Is she really a guest here?' Hinata nervously smiled as she hurriedly walked in behind Sakura.

"Sakura-san, I think this is going a tad bit overboard isn't it?" Hinata whispered when the maid went to close the door behind them.

Sakura glanced up from her position behind the pedestal. She cleared her throat as she abruptly stood up. "Sorry," she bowed her head.

Hinata extended her hand out to motion over to Sakura. "Sakura-san, let's get ready then shall we?"

Sakura nodded meekly as she hugged the shopping bag with her outfit for tonight close to her chest. She slowly followed behind Hinata up the grand staircase and down a long hallway. The heiress stopped in front of a room and brought out a key from her pocket. Sakura watched as Hinata unlocked the door and stepped inside. She followed behind and blinked in the dark cloak of the room. "It's dark," she commented. Sakura suddenly felt like slapping herself for stating the obvious.

Hinata nodded in the dark or at least what Sakura thought was a nod since she couldn't see anything anyways. Suddenly the room got a lot brighter as she blinked in the glare of the setting sun. Hinata stood by the windows as she held a curtain to the side.

"It'll be dark soon. Sakura-san, can you please turn on the light switch near you."

Sakura nodded as she turn to flip on the switches. "Why didn't we do this earlier?" she muttered.

Hinata walked up behind Sakura. "This was my room when Neji-san and I would come here to play when we were kids."

"You used to play with Sasuke?" Sakura asked in shock.

"Ah, only for a short while before my father decided to make me stay at home to learn flower arranging."

"Oh…" was all Sakura could say.

"I'll be changing in the dressing room so you're free to use the bathroom or here if you like."

Sakura clutched the bag in her hand. "Here is fine," she squeaked.

Hinata smiled as she walked off to another part of the room which opened up to be a large walk in closet. The door closed behind Hinata and Sakura walked up to the bed. She dropped the bag on top of the bed as she plumped down beside it with a sigh. With her head in her hands, she glanced at the bag as the creases on her forehead increased.

* * *

"Sakura-san, are you ready?" Hinata's voice rang out from within her dressing room.

"Mhm, yea," Sakura murmured as she struggled to fit her head through the black shirt. She quickly placed on her black blazer while slipping into a pair of one-inch heels.

Sakura hobbled over to a full length mirror in her heels as she stared at the reflection of herself. A look of uncertainty crossed her face as she turned a little sideways.

"Is something wrong?" Hinata stepped out from the dressing room and walked over to Sakura.

The cherry blossom whirled around and blankly stared at Hinata. "I look like I'm attending a funeral," Sakura replied dully. She glanced up and down at Hinata's evening dress which was a lovely lavender color that came down to her feet.

Hinata tilted her head to the side. "I-it…doesn't look that bad."

Sakura sighed. "This was the only nice skirt I could find."

"And it is…nice."

Sakura glanced back at the mirror. "For me to wear this here, you and Naruto better get married or something," she muttered.

"Did you say something, Sakura-san?"

"N-nothing."

* * *

"Psst-Naruto!" Sakura hissed behind a curtain. She was standing near the windows in the grand ballroom adjacent to the patio door opening out to beautiful courtyard. Sakura begin wringing the curtain in frustration as she tried to get Naruto's attention. She pondered over stepping out into the bright lights and revealing her disastrous black outfit as she continued to wave frantically at Naruto. A waiter walked by carrying a huge platter of hors d'oeuvre in one hand. Sakura immediately reached out and practically dragged the waiter over to her. The shocked waiter nearly dropped his tray but Sakura caught it as she handed it back to him.

"Hey, do me a favor and call over that blond-headed boy with the stupid grin on his face." Sakura added a forced smile but the clearly disgruntled waiter shuffled over to Naruto with a huff.

Sakura sighed as she popped a deviled egg she swiped from the tray earlier into her mouth. Tapping her feet on the ground, she waited impatiently as she watched from a distance at the waiter pointing towards her direction and Naruto scratching his head. Finally, after what seemed to be like forever, Naruto made his way over to the balcony.

"Sakura-chan! I'm so glad you ca-" Naruto stopped in the middle of his sentence as he saw the deathly glare hit him from underneath Sakura's pink cherry locks. Naruto laughed nervously as he took a step back. "S-sakura-chan, you look kind of…scary…" Immediately, the blond regretted uttering those very words as he felt the chill of a dark deadly aura emit from the girl in front of him.

"Do I now?" Sakura said with a evil grin. Naruto gulped as he pulled at his collar.

Sakura peered at the object in his hand. "Are you going to eat that?"

Naruto glanced at the quiche he was holding and then back at Sakura. "Here you go, Sakura-chan!"

Like taming a wild dog back to a lovable pup, Sakura reverted back to normal as she happily took the quiche in her hands. The pink haired girl munched ferociously as she talked. "Naruto," Sakura began as she peered out into the crowd of people inside, "what do you think of Hinata?"

A blank stare came across Naruto's face. "Who?"

"Hinata. You know? Hyuuga Hinata who is cousins with Hyuuga Neji who is going out with Tenten who is friends with that bastard Sasuke who is your friend. Do I make sense?"

Naruto closed his eyes in concentration. A light bulb seemed to have dawned on him because he quickly snapped his fingers in realization. "That girl who sits in front of me and never speaks!"

Sakura tilted her head to the side. "I guess we can go that way."

Naruto scratched his head. "Well, what can I say? She never even looks at me or talks to me. I barely know her. Even when I visit Neji, she always runs away when she sees me. I think she's scared of me or something."

Sakura sighed. "This is going to be hard."

"What is?"

"Naruto, go dance with Hinata."

"But," Naruto complained, "she hates me!"

"Trust me. Have I ever been wrong?"

Naruto hesitated. "You've never been right either."

"What did you say?" Sakura glared.

"Okay, okay I'll go talk to her."

Sakura watched as Naruto walked off to find Hinata. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut as she prayed that everything will work out for the best.

Sneaking a glance at both sides, Sakura darted out of the dark cloak of the curtain's shadows and scurried off to a long buffet table where less people were gathered. Grabbing a plate, she took her cue to stockpile anything that looked like it cost more than her paycheck onto her plate. When she was satisfied with her two plates of food, she headed to the patio doors to the courtyard. Finding a quiet spot by a fountain near the pool, Sakura sat down to dine.

Happily humming while starting on her second plate of food, she didn't notice when someone walked up.

"Look who we have here."

* * *

A/N: Who could it be? Review please and be sure to check out my new story We Got Married.


	14. Friends

**Song of a Cherry Blossom  
**by Diana-san

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

**Author's Note: **Hello all, thank you for patiently waiting so long for me to update. I actually had no intentions of updating at all since it's been probably two years since I last wrote anything and I have had just so many other things on my plate. I forgot all about this until recently when I got some emails saying I got followers and reviews for this story and I guess that just led me to search through my laptop and I found that I had an incomplete draft of chapter 14. Well, I guess I got excited to write again and the inspiration just came back and so I finished up the chapter. I'm not certain when I will be writing more or if I even still have the writing mojo in me anymore since it's been so long but I'll do my best in finishing up this story. Please continue to support this story! :)

* * *

**Chapter 14**

The fork paused in front of her mouth as Sakura glanced up. As she guessed correctly from the malice dripping in the voice she heard earlier, it was Aoi. Standing with her group of clone followers, Aoi walked forward to Sakura's table with her heels clicking at each step.

"Nice of you to join us," Aoi said, her tone clearly hinting at the opposite of what she just said. Aoi smiled sweetly and crossed her arms at Sakura.

Sakura flashed one of her own fake smiles at Aoi. "It was a pleasure to come here. I didn't know we were having a dog show today. Your outfits are quite suiting. I'm sure you'll win first prize in the talents section. Your bark sure is worse than your bite," Sakura said in reply as she took a sip of her cider from her glass. She flashed another sweet smile at Aoi, knowing that her words are slowly creeping under Aoi's skin and reaching a boiling point inside.

Aoi's hand twitched but she regained her composure. "Well, at least I am in an outfit that is worthy enough to be even considered in the show." Aoi looked up and down at Sakura's outfit. "Clearly better than being an abandoned dog dressed in rags."

Sakura dropped her fork on her plate, knowing that this battle wouldn't end easily. "Even Cinderella started out in rags. I'm glad you can give me such honor. If you were the evil step-sister, let me clue you in. In the end, I always win." She picked up her fork again and took a stab at the steak on her plate and proceeded to take a bite.

Aoi stamped her feet. "You think you're so smart with your little remarks, don't you?" Aoi's voice reached a shrilly high as she stomped over to stand right over Sakura's table. Aoi slammed her hand against the table causing the clinking of the plates and champagne glass on top.

"Geez, can you calm yourself down?" Sakura exclaimed as she scooted away in her chair. The overwhelming scent of Aoi's perfume made Sakura want to gag.

"CALM? You want calm? You pour spaghetti on me!"

"Are you still holding that over me? It happened like forever ago."

"It was two days ago!"

Sakura sighed. "So what do you want me to do? Apologize?"

Aoi crossed her arms again. "Apologize? What good will that be? Your words are worth about as much as the lint in my closet."

"That's good because I wasn't planning on apologizing for anything to begin with. Watching you covered in spaghetti was the highlight of my whole week. I would do it again if I were given the chance." Sakura stood up at the last word. "Now if you excuse me…"

Sakura made way to walk past Aoi but Aoi reached out her claw-like hands and grabbed onto Sakura's right shoulder from behind.

"Where do you think you are going? I wasn't done talking to you," Aoi coolly spoke.

Sakura shrugged Aoi's hand off and whirled around to face Aoi who was in a bright red dress that was clearly tailored to be tight in all the wrong areas. Sakura towered over the petite girl whose heels only brought her to just at Sakura's nose level. Sakura knew she could take her on if she wanted to. But this wasn't the place or time. Sakura knew she shouldn't bring any more attention to herself. A small crowd was starting to form and knowing her own temper as well as Aoi's, things could get ugly quickly.

"I'm done talking to you. So I think I'll take my leave now," Sakura said calmly as she began to walk away from the scene.

"Since when can servants dictate the master's command?"

That one line put a stop to Sakura's steps. She turned around slowly. "What did you say?" she asked, daring Aoi to repeat it as her emerald eyes bore into Aoi's hazel ones. Sakura knew her gaze right now was dangerous and threatening to Aoi because the petite girl in front of her slowly shrunk back a bit. But knowing of the crowd that was surrounding them, Aoi couldn't show fear.

Aoi stood up straight. "Y-you heard me. A servant. A commoner. A nobody. Dressed like you're attending your own funeral, aren't you? You don't belong here. So go ahead and walk away. Walk back to your pathetic life." With those words lingering in the air, Aoi picked up a drink glass and took a sip as if to make a point in the differences in status between them.

Sakura growled lowly. Then she did something she never thought she would ever have done in her life.

She lunged.

Like a lion attacking its prey, Sakura threw her body at Aoi. She reached out her hands to grab at Aoi's shoulders to push her down against the floor. The two struggled as the crowd watched on in shock with their mouths gaping open. Aoi shrieks fill the air as Sakura grabbed at Aoi's brunette curls and effectively ruining however many hours Aoi invested in styling it. Aoi shrieked some more but reached out her claws to tear at Sakura's blazer and managed to tear off a button and loosen a thread. Aoi bit Sakura's wrist and Sakura yelped in pain as she jumped off of Aoi and instead went to tend the red swelling forming on her left wrist.

Using this chance, Aoi pushed Sakura down and then spat on her face.

Sakura blinked as if snapped out of her illusion. The sticky liquid was dripping down her face, traveling down her cheeks and going to the chin. Sakura reached up a hand to touch her face and caught a whiff of the smell of apple cider on her fingertips. Aoi was standing a foot away from her with an empty glass in her left hand and a satisfying smirk on her face.

Aoi's hair was completely in place as it was before without a strand loose in place. Sakura looked down and saw that her blazer was still perfectly the same dull blazer it was five minutes ago, with all buttons intact and loose threads out of sight. Sakura stood dumbfounded, realizing she was only imagining the whole scenario and looking like an idiot while Aoi took advantage of her stillness to dumb apple cider all over her.

"Looking dazed aren't you?" Aoi replied as she put her glass down on top of a table. "You should really pay attention next time because it seems as if your outfit was begging to be put out of its misery and thrown into the trash. Now I guess it has got its wish."

Aoi laughed and her posse joined her in laughing and pointing at Sakura with whispers filling the air. The crowd got bigger as everyone looked on at the two girls in the center and the silence was broken as people began to whisper to each other about what had just happened.

While Sakura was imagining the ferocious fight between her and Aoi, the brunette took the chance to pour her glass of cider on top of Sakura's head. The evidence of her actions dripped down from Sakura's pink locks as Sakura clenched her teeth, angry with herself for letting Aoi getting one over her.

The sounds of the crowd got louder as the whispers no longer remained whispers but jeers and laughter.

"Get out of here!"

"You don't belong here!"

Sakura bit her lip. She was too strong to let those words get to her. She wouldn't cry, she wouldn't let them see any weakness in her steps as she turned to walk towards the door to get out of there.

But before she took a step further, her eyes looked up and met with a pair of onyx eyes staring back at her. Her breath hitched when she realized who it was. Sasuke was standing fifteen feet in front of her. She didn't know why but at the moment, she wanted to shrivel up and crawl into a hole. Standing in front of him in such a mess with a crowd laughing at her and all at a party that he tore up her invitation to was like piling up the daggers into her heart. If there was any lower than low, Sakura was sure she reached it.

Sakura hesitated as she took her first step because that walk of shame seemed to be ten times harder now that she had to walk by Sasuke when she was trying to avoid him this whole time. By then everyone in the ballroom was aware of the commotion coming from the courtyard. People hurriedly step out of the way between Sasuke and Sakura as if not wanting to be caught in the crossfire that might ensue later.

The cherry blossom held her head high as she took her first step down the path suddenly cleared for her. With her eyes never leaving Sasuke's own, she bravely walked forward and made her way slowly to the door. But before she even got halfway there, a figure emerged from the crowd and stood in her path.

"Haruno Sakura. What do you think you are doing wearing that outfit here to this party?"

Sakura's eyes flickered with confusion as she stared at Tenten who stood as an obstacle between her and the door. Tenten pursed her lips as she placed her hands at her hips as she waited for an answer.

Sakura was speechless for a moment. Finally after an excruciating long moment, Sakura made a response. "Uh, I'm sorry?"

Tenten shook her head as if disappointed.

Aoi stepped up from behind Sakura. "Don't worry Tenten. This thing was just about to make her way out and dump itself elsewhere. We were just cleaning up the mess for you."

Tenten smiled sweetly at Aoi. "You're such a sweetheart to help out. But I'm afraid you missed a spot. In fact, you missed quite a large spot." With that said, Tenten picked up the train of her dark jade green gown and walked over, past Sakura and Aoi to a hose by the fountain in the courtyard. In a matter of seconds, the hose came on and Tenten aimed it full blast at Sakura's direction. Sakura immediately closed her eyes and prepared to shield herself with her arms. But the hit never came. Sakura lowered her arms and slowly opened her eyes. She gasped at the image before her.

Tenten had, in fact, aimed at Aoi and her posse. The girls were shrieking as the wet water soaked them and their gowns from head to toe. Tenten grinned as she turned off the hose. "That's the way to clean out the trash."

Sakura gaped at her with her mouth open. Tenten just did what Sakura would only have imagined of doing. Before Sakura could say anything, Tenten came up to her and grabbed her by the wrist. "Come on, let's get you changed out of those clothes. I can't believe you didn't tell me you were coming. If you needed a dress, I would have gotten you covered. "

Before Sakura could protest, Tenten dragged her out of the courtyard admidst all the wide-eyed stares and gaping mouths. Everything became a blur to Sakura as she vaguely recalled going through the crowd somehow and going up a set of stairs before winding through identical corridors. Tenten brought her in front of large double-door room and without a second thought, the brunette pushed through and flipped on the lights.

The darkened room immediately came to life as the lights went on and acknowledged the presence of the two ladies. As they stepped in, the lights went on in a room further inside that Sakura figure for the bathroom. She almost screamed out loud, however, when the closet door beside her began moving. Tenten laughed as she pushed a few buttons on a remote she just picked up from somewhere and doors began to open in the room.

Sakura stared on in amazement as dressers and little compartment doors opened as she walked by, displaying beautiful gowns and accessories. The display lights for a shoe closet lit up and showcased the vast and endless rows of designer shoes all arranged neatly in their row.

"Uhh, Tenten?" Sakura voiced as her voice echoed in the room.

"Hmm, what is it Sakura?" Tenten asked as she sifted through a rack of dresses.

"Whose room are we in? Please don't tell me that Sasuke secretly likes to dress up as a girl sometimes."

"Didn't you know? He has a sick obsession with female clothes ever since he was a little girl."

Sakura gaped at Tenten who showed no sign that she was kidding.

"Haha, I'm just kidding. Wow, you really believed me there for a second, didn't you?" Tenten said finally with a laugh. Sakura laughed along weakly. "But don't you worry. This is Sasuke's sister-in-law's room. At least, it was supposed to be. Anyway, this room is a secret from most of the main staff and especially Sasuke's parents. Only Sasuke's grandmother and her staff of maids know about it. They are the ones who maintain it daily. And of course, now you know about it."

Before Sakura could ask anything, Tenten pulled out a bathrobe and two white towels from a linen closet. "Here, go take a shower inside and then we'll get you all freshen up when you come out." Sakura nodded without a word as Tenten handed her the robe and towels. "Shampoo and everything you need should be inside the bathroom. Just yell out to me if you need anything more," Tenten said as she guided Sakura over to the master bathroom.

With that said, the door closed behind Sakura. Left all alone inside, Sakura stared back at the reflection in the mirror of herself. Her hair was slightly dripping of what was left of the apple cider and when she briefly stroked her pink locks, it left a sticky sensation on her fingertips. Her blazer was sticking to her skin and Sakura saw how hideous her outfit looked tonight compared to everyone else at the party. Sakura grimaced. She couldn't care less what Aoi thought of her, but her words still rang some truth in them. The blazer was drooping as if someone really did just die. Her skirt was limped and dull like it got ran over. Truth be told, Sakura was probably attending her own funeral by coming to this house at all.

She undressed and quickly jumped into the shower as the hot water cascaded down her back and soothed her aching shoulders. She sighed. She couldn't wait to get out of here and crawl into her bed and just forget the whole night and the fact that the whole school tomorrow would be gossiping about her. Suddenly, Sasuke's face flashed into her head and the look in his eyes. Dark and brooding, Sakura couldn't tell if he was angry or sad. _Pfft. Sad. There's no way. He definitely must be raging inside about how I embarrassed him by showing up at his house. _

"Definitely angry," she murmured to no one in particular as the sound of the water washed out her words.

Sakura stepped out of the shower and slipped on the bathrobe and wrapped her pink tresses up in a towel turban. She splashed some cold water on her face and then patted her face dry. Removing the towel on her head, she quickly brushed through the wet hair with her fingers before blasting the hair dryer on her pink locks. Feeling fresh and renewed, she gathered up her ruined outfit and went out of the bathroom.

"Hey Tenten, do you have a shirt and jeans I could borrow? I'll return them to you at school or even tomorrow…" Sakura's voice drifted as she watched Tenten pull out a dress from the closet.

"…if you want," Sakura murmured as Tenten held the white pristine dress against Sakura and contemplated for a moment. Sakura stepped back a little as the fur lined white dress brushed against her wrist. The faux white fur circled the top and bottom of the strapless dress. The satin dress was completed with delicate rose stitching across the waist area. Tenten pulled out another item from the closet. This time, it was a white fur cape that glistened underneath the overhead studio lights making it look like a winter wonderland against Tenten's fingers.

Sakura gasped softly at the sight. Tenten grinned. "You like? Then it's settled," Tenten remarked as she handed the two items to Sakura.

"Wait—settled? What is settled? You don't expect me to change into this, do you?" Sakura asked in confusion as she held the dress and cape in both hands.

"Well, of course. Do you want to go dance in a bathrobe?"

"Dance? You expect me to go out there again after what happened?" Sakura shook her head as she tried to hand the clothes back to Tenten.

Tenten crossed her arms. "Honey, if you don't go back out there, what would become of you? You would not be able to face those wicked vultures with your head held high when you return to school."

"And you think I can face them now?"

Tenten shrugged. "Here goes trying. Look, Sakura. I didn't pick you out from all the other girls in school because I liked you." Sakura began to protest but Tenten held up a hand to silence Sakura. "Okay, maybe I did because I liked you. BUT it was because I saw something inside of you that I saw in no one else before."

"And what's that?"

"I haven't figured it out yet actually. Just a spirit that's different. No nonsense, no fake smiles. Just your true self shining through. I knew you would be quite a force to be reckoned with. And I was right seeing how riled up Sasuke gets at the mention of you."

Sakura could only smile wryly at that image.

"Now enough small talk and get your butt into the changing room and get into those clothes that I picked out for you."

Sakura sighed. It looked like there was no way out of it. Tenten was even more stubborn than Sakura and no would not be a viable option for her right now. Tenten opened a curtain to reveal a spacious dressing room equipped with three full length mirrors lit up by giant light bulbs that lined around the mirrors. A beautiful red cushioned bench was to the side underneath three hooks.

"Okay, but I'm only doing it for you. And you better even the score with Sasuke. I expect that 109th win," Sakura stated.

Tenten grinned. "Please, when I win, which I will, it's obviously going to be more than a one-point lead," she said with a scoff. "Sasuke is going to cry like a baby when I'm through with him.

Sakura laughed. "I guess when that happens, I will do anything you want me to. Even wear the frilliest dress you can find."

"Ooh, I'm going to hold you to that! Don't underestimate my skills in finding the most ridiculous outfit ever for you."

Sakura rolled her eyes before Tenten started nudging her into the changing room. "C'mon, I don't have all night, I have dancing and eating and mingling and laughing at wet bimbos to do," Tenten exclaimed.

With that said, the curtain was closed behind Sakura and she was faced with three versions of herself in the mirror. Sakura set her black outfit to the side as she gingerly held up the white dress she was holding her other hand. Afraid to break it or ruin it, she carefully hanged the cape on a hook beside her. "This must be expensive," she murmured quietly.

* * *

Tenten gasped as Sakura stepped out of the dressing room. "You look so beautiful," Tenten gushed as she rushed to Sakura's side. "Man, am I amazing or what? I should go into retail or something."

Sakura laughed softly as she slowly turned around for Tenten. The soft satin brushed against her skin and the fur bottomed lightly tickled her knees. Tenten ran into the dressing room and took out the fur cape hanging on the hook and draped it across Sakura's shoulders. "And now, the outfit is complete. Oh wait! Shoes!" Tenten exclaimed excitedly. Tenten handed Sakura a pair of silver heels adorned with a diamond encrusted bow on each heel. Sakura's eyes widened.

"Those aren't real diamonds, are they?" Sakura asked.

"Of course not, silly. Uh, but maybe you should be careful with them. I can't really tell the fake pair apart from the real pair."

Sakura looked at Tenten in disbelief. "You're kidding right?"

Tenten grinned. "Who knows? But in any case, it's not your concern."

As Sakura stepped into the heels, Tenten brought out a diamond necklace that glistened in the light. "Woah, I'm going to stop you there Tenten," Sakura said as she held out a hand to stop Tenten. Sakura pointed to her own necklace hanging down from her neck. "I have one and this is more special to me than any diamonds."

Tenten nodded, "I guess this is maybe a little too much. I'll put these back."

The dark bun-haired girl returned with hands empty and a big smile on her face. "Ready?"

Sakura frowned. "Not at all but it looks like I have no choice with you here."

"That's the spirit. Let's go dazzle!" Tenten said happily as she pushed Sakura towards the door.

With a deep breath, Sakura exited with Tenten in tow as the two went down the hallway and to the top of the grand staircase.

"You look amazing and as long as you keep your head held high, it doesn't matter what other people think," Tenten whispered in Sakura's ear.

Sakura nodded as she descended the stairs carefully while holding the railing with a death grip as her ankles shook nervously in the silver heels with Tenten following behind her. The stairs curved down and as soon as Sakura came into view of the crowd at the bottom, the sudden loud chatter came to a quick silence. Now all she could hear was the nervous and awkward coughs and clearing of throat of the people below and the eyes that stare back at her. Her heels didn't even make a sound going down since it was muffled by the carpeted steps.

Swallowing a gulp, she forced her head up high and continued the rest of the steps down. All the while, her mind was racing as she searched the crowd of eyes and looked frantically for a familiar pair that was warm and inviting and would hopefully rescue her away from the uneasy feeling of being the center of attention. She closed her eyes as she came to the last step and when she opened them again, she was met face to face with a pair of dark obsidian eyes. With a slight gasp, she stepped back in surprise but was only met with the step behind her and she fumbled a bit backwards before the arms that belonged to the pair of eyes caught her and pulled her closer.

"W-what do you want?" Sakura sputtered out.

"Nothing," he said with a smile. "Perhaps a dance?" He smiled again, this time a bit more coy and mischievous.

"Look Sai, I don't have time for you to call me names right now. Someone already beat you to it today," Sakura said as she tried to push Sai out of her reach.

"If you stick by me tonight, you can avoid all the awkward stares and whispers at school on Monday. They might have something better to talk about than snickers and laughs."

Sakura looked into Sai's eyes. "Oh great, an offer to be the center of rumors gossip rather than the object of taunts and name calling. What a great choice between the two," she said sarcastically.

Sai shrugged. "You'll be the center of it all either way. But it seems best to be called my secret lover rather than an ugly hag that you are, right?" he smiled.

Sakura growled under her throat. "You sure are pleasant and good in your people skills," she muttered.

Sai smiled as he stepped back from the stairs and extended his hand out. "A dance, fair lady?"

Sakura flashed a fake smile back to reflect Sai's own before taking his hand and squeezing it tightly. A little bit too tightly if she might add. Sai gave a wider smile as if he took no notice of the death grip on his hand.

"Don't mind if I do," Sakura said sweetly as she continued her death grip lock on his hand.

"You hag," Sai said through his teeth. He led Sakura to the dance floor amidst all the stares and whispers. The band took cue and began to play music and suddenly the dance floor was noisy again as everyone began to resume normal chatter and dancing. Unfortunately for Sakura, the music was a slow song and the two of them awkwardly held on to each other to sway to the music or at least make it look like they were moving in sync to the music or to each other.

"Thanks," Sakura said quietly.

"For what?" Sai asked.

"Nothing. Just wanted to say it. So why the interest in even helping me?"

"I don't have any interest. I invited you and asked to see what scary outfit you will surprise me with and you actually came through so I came to say good job."

Sakura stopped dancing. "Hey, this is an outfit Tenten picked out," she retorted.

"Yes, and it looks very scary on you."

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows at him. "Why do you speak? You clearly don't know the way to talk and comfort a girl's heart."

"I wasn't trying to comfort you at all," he replied.

He stopped dancing. For a moment, there was silence between the two. "You look…"

Sakura waited for him to finish his words.

"…scary."

Sakura stepped on his foot.

Sai gave a small yelp as he hopped up on one foot. "Hey, you do! Look at you, all decked out in a beautiful dress and shoes and on your face is still an angry and annoyed look like you don't want to be here at all."

Sakura crossed her arms. "Well I don't. Not even for a little bit do I want to be here. This party sucks and the people here are all snobby and won't even care to associate with me so what is the point? To top it all off, I am stuck with you who did nothing but insult me when you first saw me. I WAS smiling before you went and opened your big mouth."

"Ah, but were you really smiling of happiness or just a fake smile hiding all your anger inside?" Sai noted.

"Why does it matter? Whichever smile I show, you'll still call me an ugly hag."

Sai smiled. "You don't know that," he whispered in Sakura's ear.

Sakura dropped her hands to her side. "You look scary. Scary beautiful," he said softly as the words lingered in the air. She stepped back and stared at Sai. He stood there with a smile on his face and his head cocked to one side.

"Let's go walk around, shall we?" Sai offered as no words escaped Sakura's mouth. He took her by the arm and noiselessly, they left the dance floor and went off to the side by a long table of appetizers and drinks.

"Hungry?" he asked.

Sakura shook her head, still in disbelief at Sai's words.

"Cat got your tongue?"

Sakura looked up at him. "No," she said coolly. "Just exactly why are you paying attention to me?"

"A little birdie told me that you were annoying forehead girl who always goes out to make trouble for herself. I thought to myself that I would like to meet such a person."

"Sasuke," Sakura growled.

"Yes, my dear cousin. Are you two an item?" Sai asked.

"Me? A couple? WITH HIM?" Sakura exclaimed hotly.

A few people nearby turned to stare at Sakura's loud outburst. She quickly dragged Sai away to a corner and lowered her voice. "No, not in a million years. Not if he was the last guy on Earth," she swore.

"Oh, then what about me?" Sai asked.

"What about you?"

"What do you think of me and you?" he asked with a smile.

Sakura gawked at him in disbelief. "Are you joking or just messing with me?"

He smiled again. This time, perhaps more sincere than all the previous times he flashed that celebrity smile around. "Hm, I don't know. I guess I was just testing the waters with you first before I asked someone else."

"Gee, thanks for making me a guinea pig," Sakura spoke sarcastically.

"What do you think of this painting?" Sai asked suddenly.

Sakura looked up and noticed the giant portrait that was hanging in front of them. "Way to change the conversation," she muttered.

She glanced at the portrait before observing the fine details of the drawing. Three people were standing beside a tall tree with a fourth person jumping down as if he just ran late and is coming to greet the other three. Their faces were too small to distinguish who they were but on each was a hint of a smile. Behind the tree was a breathtaking background of a beautiful town and birds flying across the blue sky.

"It's beautiful," she murmured softly. "What is it called?"

Sai nodded and shrugged. "The artist never named the painting. It was always left untitled."

"That's a shame," Sakura remarked.

"What would you have called it?" he asked as he looked over at her.

Sakura scrunched up her eyebrows in deep concentration. "Hm, even though the people in the painting are standing apart, you can tell that they seem to be really close to each other. Dependable and there for you. Like…a friend. Definitely, they aren't strangers. They're…friends."

"Friends?" Sai echoed.

"Yeah, good friends. The ones who will never leave you," Sakura said softly.

"Interesting."

The two stood there in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, as they continued to observe the painting before them with the noise of the party in the background behind them.

"Sakura…"

"Hm?" Sakura turned around. Next thing she knew, Sai was leaning forward towards her. Closer and closer, his face inched towards her own. And then, he kissed her on the lips.


End file.
